Another Run-In with Danzo

Josuke had always loved a line of poetry by a great poet.

I searched for her a thousand times in the crowd. Then, when I turned around, there she was, in the dim light.

He had thought it was nothing more than some great poet's daydream, but never imagined he would experience it here, today, at this very moment.

Josuke felt the same way.

She sat outside in the courtyard, dressed in a kimono and surrounded by flowers, looking like a fairy among them. In her hands was a flower crown that was almost 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 garden. Her wooden sandals clattered against the floorboards.

Closer, closer still.

Ino threw herself into that warm embrace.

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

Only after feeling that it was all real did Ino finally relax a little.

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

It seemed that at some point, the place in his heart had been filled by her, leaving no room for anyone else.

Though an inescapable fate had engulfed the two brothers,

Josuke was lucky to have her by his side, with her care and encouragement.

Those three years of training with Jiraiya were the three years Josuke missed her most. Sometimes, he wondered if he had made the right choice.

And then there was the time after he defected.

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

"Ino~"

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

(A quick note: Josuke and Ino have never confessed their feelings to each other. Their relationship is pretty strange right now.)

Ino's face was glowing with happiness.

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

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

"What is it?~⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄"

Josuke closed his eyes and rested his head gently against 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 leaned against each other like that until...

"Growl."

Josuke's stomach was empty.

QAQ

How embarrassing.

Ino giggled.

"You're hungry, aren't you?~"

She patted Josuke's head.

"I'm hungry too. Want me to cook something for you?"

That was probably true. It was already noon. Of course he was hungry.

But now that he thought about it, he seemed to have forgotten something.

Let's see.

Oh, right. He remembered.

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

Whoosh!

Ino's face quickly turned red.

She couldn't meet Josuke's eyes.

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

Ino dodged the question and tried to slip away to the kitchen.

o(￣ヘ￣o＃)

There was definitely something going on. Josuke stopped her.

"Tell me. If you don't, I'm not letting you in."

Josuke wrapped an arm around Ino's slender waist.

"No, no!"

Ino made a stabbing motion with her hands. She looked fierce, but adorably so.

She wasn't going to tell him?

Then it looked like he'd have to enforce some house rules, or she'd never know who was boss around here.

"Are you going to tell me or not~?"

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

(Those of you who are curious can try it yourselves. It really works.)

Wait, what?

"Hahaha..."

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

At first, Ino had only thought it felt nice. But as Josuke gradually kept at it, it started to tickle. It was even more intense than being tickled normally.

"I'm not letting go. Are you going to tell me or not~?"

Heh. You're all talk.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you..."

Ino couldn't take it anymore. If Josuke kept tickling her, she was going to die laughing.

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

Ino was completely limp now, slumping in Josuke's arms like a puddle. Whatever Ino felt, Josuke was certainly enjoying himself.

"You're so mean~"

Ino pounded Josuke's chest with her tiny fists. What was he supposed to do? It only made him more excited.

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

"What is it?"

"I bought the Uchiha Compound."

Josuke felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"That... that can't be!"

Seeing the disbelief on Josuke's face, Ino remembered feeling the same way herself.

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

A bad feeling rose in Josuke's heart.

"Who?"

"Danzo."

Oh my god. Danzo, I'll curse your immortal ancestors.

But the compound was in Ino's hands now, so there had to be more to the story. Josuke remembered that the Uchiha Compound was gone later on.

"Danzo gathered the major clans of the Hidden Leaf Village to discuss auctioning off the Uchiha Compound. In truth, no one wanted to take on such a hot potato."

"After all, the Uchiha had produced two S-rank missing-nin. Who knew what would happen next?"

After saying that, Ino glanced at Josuke. He looked so handsome as a missing-nin. What was she supposed to do?

Josuke nodded. If the kids he knew in the Hidden Leaf had bought it, he might not have been so angry. At most, he would have talked to them and seen if he could buy it back. But Ino had bought it~ so wasn't it basically his?

As for anyone else, Josuke might have just summoned his giant mech and killed them.

"And then?"

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

You're such a nice person.

After hearing Ino explain, Josuke more or less understood what had happened. He didn't blame her. On the contrary, he should be thanking her for keeping his home out of the hands of thieves.

But none of that seemed to be the main point.

"Then what's with all the flowers in our home?"

"Our home?"

It sounded a little off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"You mean those flowers?"

Ino straightened her clothes.

"I planted them. How do they look?"

Josuke nodded. He had been stunned when he first saw them. He was grateful to Ino.

She had transformed the cold, lifeless atmosphere of the Uchiha Compound.

"As for those flowers, they came from our family's flower shop. I saw all the empty space here, so I planted them. Sorry for doing it without asking..."

"It's fine. I like them."

But that wasn't the main point.

(￣_,￣)

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