I ended up playing a few more songs, among those, Ellie’s version of Aha’s Take on Me. I mixed some of the traditional Konoha’s songs I learned at the academy, but gave them my own personal touch. For one, I liked pop music; there was no need to deny that. The calming, serene songs taught didn’t really speak to me like modern pop music.

  For those songs, I changed rhythms, added a few beats of percussion by tapping the koto with threads, and even added lyrics when I thought appropriate. I had a blast with it all, but the best part was Ino’s smile, and her swaying to the songs and even singing alone for those she knew. It felt like heaven, or what I thought heaven felt like.

  Ino stopped my playing to watch the sunset together. I had planned it in a way she’d be able to hear the songs, watch me play, and see the sunset. But the prettiest of girlfriends of them all had other plans: she dragged me away from the koto and sat on my lap, back to me, and pulled my arms around her.

  Gosh, even thinking about it made my ears burn.

  The rest of the evening passed in a blur of musing, kissing, and cuddling. It was perfect until the tubby tabby yowled from his place atop the gazebo.

  A warm breeze and the sweet scent of flowers had lured me to sleep. Ino had fallen asleep as well, her face a few inches from mine. I nearly went back to sleep again, but the cat wouldn’t be denied.

  Mister Tama climbed down from his roof throne, dumping his considerable weight on top of me.

  “Alright, I’m awake,” I mumbled, pushing the cat away. What the hell was his deal? I looked around, trying to find what spooked the cat, but couldn’t see anyone nearby. A quick sweep of my chakra sense revealed nothing out of normal: there were a lot of chakra bundles around, none close to us. There was a bundle moving away that felt familiar, almost like Secretary-chan, but different. Drier and bitter, if that made sense.

  Ino was awake by now as well, and my focus changed from paying attention to my surroundings to watching my beautiful girlfriend. Her eyes were a little wide, looking around. Then her eyes found mine. She smiled, kissed me, and then remembered where we were. “Shit! What time is it?”

  By the position of the moon and how calm everything was around us, it was late in the evening. “Late?” I offered sheepishly.

  Ino rolled her eyes, gave me a playful slap on the arm, “I gotta go home, or Mom will cause a scene.”

  I nodded sagely. That was a good idea. The Yamanaka Matriarch had just consented to our relationship. It wasn’t the time to test limits by having Ino spend the night out, even if the night out was spent sleeping under the stars.

  Satisfied with his good deed, the tabby pranced about, rustling his flank between our legs. I bent down to scratch his head, and he darted away, giving me a very offended look, like I had committed the worst of sins. Cats, who could understand them.

  Most of the stuff I had prepared for the date I left atop the building, I’d come back another day to clean things properly. For now, it was only my koto, packed and ready to move.

  Ino offered me her hand, and I couldn’t fight the blush. I had to look away after taking it. Which of course she noticed; her giggling was a dead giveaway.

  “Every time we touch, right?”

  The blush turned into a full-on burn. Oh God, why?

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  Hand in hand, we left the roof and ninja-hopped toward her house. As we suspected, it was already very late, with almost no one on the streets. At her door, we stopped. I planned to kiss her good night and then skedaddle, my well of courage already empty after facing Ino’s mom early that day.

  Ino didn’t give me a chance to flee. She never let go of my hand, pulling me inside the house with her.

  Inside the now familiar house, I met Inoichi, who sat in the living room, a cup of tea in hand. Ino’s mom bustled about in the kitchen, by the sounds of it.

  “Did you girls have fun?” he asked as soon as we entered.

  “Dad!” Ino whined. She pulled me toward Inoichi and only let go a few moments before slumping onto him in a sort of koala hug.

  “Welcome home, Hinata-chan,” Inoichi said after patting Ino’s head.

  “Thank you,” was the only thing that left my mouth.

  Ino’s mom left the kitchen then, back straight, face serious, eyes focused. She looked at Ino, then me. “Shower before going to bed,” she said. “I don’t want you dragging that much dirt into your bedroom.”

  That was unfair. I scowled, looking at my clothes. The yukata was still pristine; there wasn’t a single mote of dust… or so that was what I thought, but looking closer, there were a few smudges of dirt, mostly around my feet and legs. Ino was the same, made even more apparent because she wore black.

  “Mom!” Ino scowled and whined, but there was no heat in her voice.

  “You heard your mother,” Inoichi added, which only made Ino scowl harder.

  It was surreal seeing how… normal a family they were. I squashed that mote of jealousy brewing in my gut. I should be happy for Ino, not jealous of her. It wasn’t her or her family’s fault that my father was a huge jerk.

  Something must have shown on my face, because Inoichi looked from me to his wife. There was a silent conversation between them, and not long after, Ino’s mom was by my side, hugging and pulling me closer to her chest.

  I might have made a mess of her pristine clothes. Don’t judge me, please. I really miss Mom. Both of them.

  The night was a bit of a blur after that. Ino took a bath first, and under her mother’s insistence, prepared the guest bedroom, which went unused, because as soon as I left the bathroom, Ino dragged me inside her room, despite her mother’s stern glare.

  I mean, I agreed with Ino. It wasn’t the first time I was here for a sleepover. The only thing that changed was that we were dating now, and while circumstances were strange, I wasn’t about to ravage their daughter with Inoichi and his wife sleeping in the adjacent room. I wasn’t that brave, or suicidal.

  That, of course, didn’t exclude making out under the blankets. Kissing Ino was so good, but we knew when to stop. I wasn’t ready to go past kissing, and I think Ino was the same. There were barely any wandering hands while we made out.

  We both needed the comfort and presence of each other more than indulging in teenage lust.

  I fell asleep hugging Ino and breathing her sweet floral scent.

  I woke up in an empty, cold bed.

  My first instinct was fear, maybe panic. What happened? Where was Ino? Where was I? Then I fully woke up, spreading my chakra senses about. It wasn't hard to find Ino. There was no way I could miss her chakra signature. It reminded me of good things and nature before, and now, it was even easier because of the Gelel stone I had shoved inside her chest where her heart was.

  Ino was outside, sitting on the roof. Alone.

  Worried, I got out of bed, opened the window, climbed out, and onto the roof.

  Ino had her back toward me, and her shoulders shook. I heard muffled sobbing. She was holding something in her arms, hugging it to her chest.

  My feet carried me forward before I could even think about what I was doing.

  Ino was ugly crying, but trying her best not to make any noises. Her eyes found mine, and she cried harder. The thing in her hands was a bloody forehead protector, one I recognized: my own, the one I lost after being kidnapped in the Land of Waves.

  There wasn’t anything I could do, and I didn’t know what to say. Why was Ino crying? Instead of opening my mouth and asking questions that made no sense, I sat by her side and hugged her.

  Ino clung to me as her life depended on it. Her voice was a sobbing mess. “H-Hinata-chan, I-I feel like I-I’m back at the pure lands.”