Danzo Again

Josuke had always loved a line from a great poet.

I searched for him a thousand times in the crowd. Then, suddenly turning my head, I found him where the lights were dim.

He had thought it was merely the daydream of some great poet. He had never imagined that, here and now, at this very moment, he would—

Josuke felt that same way.

She sat outside in the courtyard, wearing a kimono and surrounded by flowers like a fairy among the blossoms. In her hands was a flower crown, nearly finished.

"Ino."

Josuke called out.

Outside the courtyard.

Ino froze.

She turned around in disbelief.

It was him.

Her eyes were full of shock and surprise. There was no mistaking it—it was him.

"Josuke-kun!"

Ino hurried to her feet and came in from the flower beds, her wooden sandals thudding against the floorboards.

Closer. A little closer.

Ino threw herself into that warm embrace.

She held tightly to his back, afraid he might vanish and leave her the very next second.

Only after feeling that it was all real did Ino finally begin to relax.

Josuke said nothing. He simply held the girl he wanted to protect.

It was as if, at some point, the place in his heart had been filled by this girl, leaving no room for anyone else.

Though an inescapable fate had enveloped the two brothers, Josuke was lucky to have her by his side—to have her care and encouragement.

Those three years training with Jiraiya had been the years he missed her most. Sometimes, he even wondered whether he had done the right thing.

And then there was after he defected.

The girl had trusted him without reservation, just as she had back then.

"Ino~"

Josuke gently stroked Ino's hair with one hand. It was silky smooth, and Ino seemed to like it when he did that.

(Just to be clear, Josuke and Ino have never confessed their feelings to each other. Their relationship is pretty strange right now.)

Ino's face was full of happiness.

Josuke-kun was so gentle. Ino felt like the happiest woman in the world.

She relaxed and closed her eyes, enjoying Josuke's caress.

"What's the matter~⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄"

Josuke closed his eyes and gently rested his head beside Ino's ear.

"I missed you~"

Thank you, Ino. It wasn't that I met you at the best time in my life. It was because of you that I had these wonderful days.

Josuke only said those words silently in his heart.

"I missed you too."

The two of them stayed nestled together like that until...

"Grrr."

Josuke's stomach was growling.

QAQ

How embarrassing.

Ino giggled.

"Are you hungry~?"

She patted Josuke's head.

"I'm hungry too, so why don't I make you something to eat?"

Come to think of it, it was already noon. Of course they'd be hungry.

But he seemed to have forgotten something.

Let's think.

Oh, right. He remembered.

"Ino-chan, by the way... what happened to my room?"

Whoosh!

Ino's face turned bright red.

She couldn't look at Josuke.

"Um, Josuke-kun, I'll go make lunch now~"

Ino tried to dodge the question and sneak off to the kitchen.

Hmph!

Something was definitely up. Josuke stopped her at once.

"Tell me. I'm not letting you go in until you do."

Josuke wrapped an arm around Ino's slender waist.

"Stop it, stop it!"

Ino made a poking motion, looking adorably fierce.

She wasn't going to tell him?

Then it looked like he'd have to enforce some house rules. Otherwise, who knew who'd be in charge around here?

"Are you gonna tell me or not~?"

As he spoke, he wrapped both arms around Ino's waist, rested his chin against her back, and started drawing circles on it with his chin.

(If any of you are curious, you can try this. It's guaranteed to work.)

Wait, what?

"Hahaha..."

"Stop... you... let go of me~..."

At first, Ino had just thought it felt nice. But as Josuke gradually kept going, it started tickling. It was even more intense than being tickled.

"I'm not letting go. Are you gonna tell me~?"

Nice try, hehe.

"Fine~ fine~ I'll tell you..."

Ino couldn't take it anymore. If Josuke kept tickling her like this, she'd die laughing.

Only after hearing Ino's answer did Josuke finally let her go.

Ino was completely limp now, slumped in Josuke's arms like a puddle. He didn't know what it was like for her, but Josuke was certainly enjoying himself.

"You're so mean~"

Ino gave Josuke's chest a tiny punch. It only made him more excited. What was he supposed to do?

"Actually... it's just..."

"What is it?"

"I bought the Uchiha Clan Land."

Josuke felt as if he'd been struck by five bolts of lightning.

"Th-this can't be real, can it?"

Seeing Josuke's disbelieving expression, Ino remembered feeling exactly the same way at the time.

"At first, I couldn't believe it either. But guess who was in charge of the whole thing?"

Josuke had a bad feeling creeping over him.

"Who?"

"Danzo."

For the love of God, Danzo, I'm gonna kill you!

But now the house was in Ino's hands, so there had to be more to the story. Josuke remembered that the Uchiha Clan Land had disappeared later on.

"Danzo called all the major clans in Konoha together to discuss auctioning off the Uchiha Clan Land. In truth, none of them wanted to touch that hot potato."

"After all, the Uchiha had produced two S-rank Rogue Ninjas. Who knew what might happen next?"

As she spoke, Ino glanced at Josuke. A Rogue Ninja can be so handsome. What am I supposed to do?

Josuke nodded. If some of the rookie ninjas he knew from Konoha had bought it, he might not have been so angry. He could have talked to them and seen if they'd sell it back. But Ino had bought it, so it was basically his, wasn't it?

As for anyone else, Josuke might've just climbed into his giant robot and killed them.

"And then?"

"Then I bought it for an incredibly low price. I couldn't let someone else get their hands on your family's home~"

You're a real sweetheart, you know that?

After hearing Ino's explanation, Josuke more or less understood what had happened. He didn't blame Ino. In fact, he should be thanking her for making sure his home didn't fall into the wrong hands.

But that didn't seem to be the main point.

"So what's with all the flowers at our house?"

Our house??

That sounded a little strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"You mean those flowers?"

Ino straightened her clothes.

"I planted them. What do you think? Pretty, right?"

Josuke nodded. He had been stunned by the sight at first. He was grateful to Ino.

She had transformed the Uchiha Clan Land, which had been so desolate, into something entirely different.

"Those flowers are from our family's flower shop. I saw all the empty space here, so I planted them. I'm sorry for taking the liberty..."

"It's fine. I like them."

But none of that was the main point.

(￣_,￣ )

"So, Ino-chan... can you tell me about my room now?"