章節 82: Chapter 82

"Pl- Please, sensei," Ino begs, moving around the counter and extending her hand. "Please, please, please, can you come with me? I- we- can't…" Kurenai-sensei is clearly confused but trusts her and takes her hand. Exiting the shop with haste, Ino is shouting behind her shoulder, "mom, I'm heading out! I'll be back soon!"

Despite her panic as they rush through the market's street, Ino happens to note the ebony-haired sensei's calloused palm and couldn't help but be envious. Ino wonders how much training it would take to create so many callouses when the young sensei stops her cold.

"I feel this is far enough, Yamanaka-chan," Kurenai states, stopping between buildings at the edge of the street. "Can you tell me why we had to rush out of there in such a hurry?"

Ino looks around nervously a moment before responding, "I can… but, can you please tell me where you got that orchid?"

Kurenai eyes the girl skeptically. Clearly, there's a story here and the young Yamanaka is agitated. Still, she answers, "it was a gift, though I'm unaware of this particular orchid. Now, would you care to answer my question?"

Ino isn't sure what kind of cover-story she can come up with that would be convincing when she hears a squeal. Ino and Kurenai both turn to Ino's elated mother. She'd found them and the way Ino's stomach tightened up felt like she was kicked in the gut. "Ka-san-"

"Another one!" The normally calm brunette Yamanaka exclaims. Moving closer to the rare orchid, the Yamanaka matriarch looks from Ino to Kurenai and back before stating, "I'm fairly certain the Fire Slipper Orchid my daughter had received was from a boy. Why my daughter didn't think I would find her rushing off strange, I do not know, but I'm curious, Kurenai-sensei, are you perhaps delivering this orchid on his behalf? Would that mean you know his identity? I know my Ino-chan has reservations about the boy-"

"Ka-san!" Ino hisses.

"Ino, recall your manners," her mother warns, returning to her normally calm and collected demeanor. Ino calms down as her mother continues. "As I was saying, I realize this can feel embarrassing for all involved, however, as a mother and florist, I can't ignore such extravagant gifts."

Kurenai smiles politely before stating, "I'm unaware of the details surrounding this plant-"

"I'll explain it to you," Ino interjects. "If we can go to lunch?" One look at her mother and Ino adds, "alone please."

"Really now, Ino, for this boy to go so far…"

"Please," Ino begs her mother with both hands clasped together.

"…Fine," Ino's mother replies, before turning to Kurenai. "However you must tell me who this boy is- Not as a mother, but as a florist. Clearly, he's discovered a gold mine."

"I take it this is a valuable flower," Kurenai hazards an easy guess.

"One of the most," Ino's mother simply states.

"Well, Yamanaka-san," Kurenai begins. "If anything, I can assure you this boy does not know it's value. He simply thought it was pretty. With your permission, I'd like to take Ino-chan to lunch."

Using her mask to perfection, Ino's mother nods her acceptance, however, Ino knows she wants answers and it seems like she won't let it go. Turning to her daughter, she extends her hand, sternly asking her curious daughter, "the key to the register? You left with it." Sure enough, wrapped around Ino's elbow is the key to the cash register and the realization that she had to suffer all this because of a small bit of metal annoys Ino to no end.

KURENAI

Once the pair have settled in a nearby tea shop with the apparently valuable Orchid on the table between the kunoichi, Kurenai states, "I feel I've been patient enough, Ino-chan. How about you start with the orchid."

With a huff, Ino slowly answers, "it's one of the rarest orchids in the five nations. Taking fifteen years to bloom, the market value is as high as seven-hundred and fifty thousand ryo per stem."

Kurenai could not keep the shock from her face. 'Seven-hundred and fifty thousand ryo per stem!' Kurenai wonders if she'll ever stop being surprised by the boy. First, his chakra reserves, then Rasengan, to then learn of his nature manipulation training and of course the sex. To Kurenai, the surprise isn't simply the orchid with such an astounding value but also because Ino seems to be the girl Naruto wanted the lessons for to begin with. He'd always mention his teammate Sakura, but never once did he bring up the heiress to the Yamanaka clan.

For some reason, the obviously beautiful platinum-blond sitting before her seems to want to keep Naruto a secret from her family. If nothing happened why would such a secret need to be kept? Unless the girl doesn't want to acknowledge unexpected feelings for Naruto. It's understandable. Kunoichi of late seem ravenous over the Uchiha or the Hyūga boys. Most boys seem to dislike Uchiha-kun primarily because he has the tragedy, the wealth, a face, and natural ability that receives all the female attention. Kiba-kun, in particular, will go off on such a tirade if the Uchiha is brought up.

The two are silent long enough for the tea to arrive. In that time, Kurenai wonders what Ino and Naruto's relationship is, and so asks, "why don't you want your parents to learn about Naruto?"

Ino gags in response, which seems like an exaggeration in Kurenai's opinion, but then again, Kurenai is aware and often reminded of how effortless Naruto brings out negative reactions out of people. Kurenai is really starting to wonder what kind of life the blue-eyed boy has led. The sensei has heard and seen too much extreme behavior not to satisfy some of her growing curiosity. "You know, if you have feelings for Naru-"

"I don't have feelings for him," Ino cuts her off, adding, "who would? He's the worst in just about every way you can think of!"

'That's definitely not true,' Kurenai thinks with a tingling tightness of her legs before imagining Ino yelling that very rebuttal to Naruto. It would certainly explain why he'd want to gain more experience with girls… though, the sex doesn't make sense. He would've asked, 'how to date,' not, 'how to make girls feel good.' Unless the pair have done some physically romantic activity which Ino is extremely embarrassed and ashamed about. 'Possibly a moment of weakness?' Kurenai wonders, before asking, "how would he know to bring you this orchid?"

Again, the girl seemed dejected to answer, "a couple of months ago, he was coming back from his training in the forest and I noticed a petal of the orchid stuck on that disgusting jacket of his."

'Yes, that jacket is absolutely horrendous,' Kurenai can't help but agree.

"I never told him how valuable it was but you can probably guess how much I wanted to know every detail," Ino finishes.

'That must've been when they first started being aware of one another in a setting that wasn't the Academy,' Kurenai thought. Understanding the lengths Naruto goes to for his dreams, Kurenai wonders if Ino is apart of that future he sees so clearly. 'Maybe he's using Ino to get over Sakura,' Kurenai wonders, though quickly coming to the conclusion that isn't the type of impression Naruto reflects. "And you haven't seen him since," Kurenai wonders aloud.