Ren and Ino happily walked through the bustling streets of Konoha with intertwined fingers, enjoying their date. After Inoichi, the Yamanaka Cockblocker, interrupted them yesterday in Ino's office, they decided to take a day off and have fun.
The Danzo situation was not going to be resolved anyway, so Ino's investigation into it was a moot point, while Ren simply sent Shadow Clones to his work. They both had the time and could slack off for a day.
They had been in a sushi restaurant that opened its doors for customers again just the day before, and while Ren wasn't a big fan of raw fish meat, Ino loved it. Then, they spent an hour in a tavern that catered mostly to ninjas. It was quite empty because of how busy everybody had been due to the invasion, but with tens of thousands of ninjas, there will always be some guys on vacation like Ren and Ino.
They were roped into playing darts with the few ninja customers inside, while Ino subtly got them talking as they drank their sake. Poor sods didn't realize she was coaxing them into giving her the most recent gossip about their colleagues and teammates.
Watching her was like witnessing magic for Ren. Ino was very smooth at getting people to talk with just her charisma. Introverts like Hinata, or he couldn't really relate.
One blushing rookie chunin even blurted out where his next mission was going to be without realizing it. It wasn't some kind of S-rank secret, but it most definitely was a secret. The boy shouldn't have done that, but his eyes were drawn a bit too much to Ino's legs, and the information was out before he knew it. All it took for Ino was to emphasize her legs a little bit with her motions while throwing the darts before sadly pouting when she deliberately missed.
Ren had to roll his eyes as he saw the foxy grin on his girlfriend's face as she walked next to him. He had no doubt she had enjoyed herself immensely. She looked as if she was going to start blackmailing people with the gossip that she had gathered today, and Ren decided it was none of his business.
"There are quite a few traders coming to Konoha recently." Ren started a topic while his eyes roamed across the wares in the various street stalls.
"Konoha is in a crisis, and they smell an opportunity." Ino shrugged, "Why? Hoping to find some sort of treasure among all that trash?" She wrinkled her nose as her eyes passed a stall where a man was trying to sell clearly faulty, chipped kunai, rusty tanto, and an armor that had some unidentifiable stains that were absolutely not made by blood.
Ino clicked her tongue. The man was most likely a battlefield scavenger trying to offload his remaining old, unsold wares. Wares that were likely to get some impressionable, stupid genin killed if he or she bought them.
For a moment, Ino had gotten an intense desire to give the trader a month-long nightmare-filled surprise that may or may not end up becoming quite suicide-inducing at the end of it.
But Ren felt her darkening mood and squeezed her hand, pulling her out of that dark place.
Their eyes met with a shared understanding before Ren gave her a wry smile and subtly shook his head. Ino deflated and noticed him motion to other stalls with his head.
She turned to look, only to inwardly grimace when she saw that nearly every fourth or fifth stall had some shit trash like that on sale, and the lower-end ninjas were buying it simply because it was cheap. If she wanted to start punishing these vultures, then there would be no end.
"It's something the village's higher-ups are supposed to clean up." Ren casually said.
Ino huffed without reply and yanked Ren toward a stall that sold some sweet delicacy, supposedly very popular in the Land of Earth. Handing over the money, she bought two sticks and handed one to Ren.
"Maybe I should just become the Hokage." Ino jokingly said.
"Yeah. That would solve many issues, wouldn't it?" Ren wryly said before biting into the treat in his hand.
Ino almost missed a step upon hearing his words. "I was joking." She dryly added, and Ren shrugged.
"I was not."
That earned him an irritated look, and before he knew it, Ino leaned forward, taking a bite out of his treat.
"Hey!" Ren exclaimed, but Ino's unamused gaze just dared him to protest. Naturally, he was ready to oblige, "That was mine!"
"Tough lu-" Ino turned her nose up and snotily started when their sticks were suddenly swapped in their hands, and she ended up with Ren's.
Ren smirked at the speechless look she gave her half-eaten treat, and as she turned her gaze back to him, he looked her straight in the eyes and enjoyed taking a big bite out of the treat that previously belonged to the girl.
Ino's nose twitched.
Ren knew it as a sign of her rising temper.
In response, he subtly shifted his stance, and his smile widened.
For a split second, the world froze, but then Ren let out a laughing bark. Abruptly, both of them were hurling through the air, jumping on the rooftops in a wild chase as Ino tried to catch him.
Ren ducked the empty wooden stick Ino threw at him like a senbon and noticed as it burrowed into a tree he was passing. He inwardly chuckled as he realized Ino had used chakra.
"Stop and face me like a man!" Ino shouted as she jumped over a startled chunin who had almost run into her, using his shoulder as a springboard.
But Ren kept his distance from her while running, and as he ate the last bite of Ino's treat, he raised the empty stick so she would clearly see it while letting out another cackle.
Ino angrily screamed, and with a bit of wind chakra, she disappeared from her place. Ren turned on his heel, spinning his body to the side with a grin as Ino reappeared right behind him and her grasping hand passed through where the middle of his back was just a moment ago.
Their eyes met.
Ren leaned forward.
Their lips met.
Just for a split second.
Suddenly, Ren was no longer there, and Ino noticed him hopping on rooftops a bit further away. Her cheek twitched, "So you want to play it like this, huh?" She whispered before she disappeared after him.
But no matter how angry she pretended to be, the smile on her face was undeniable.
The chase lasted several minutes and went all around Konoha. At least, until the ANBU started paying attention to them and Ren steered them toward the outskirts of Konoha, where he was caught.
Or rather, where he let Ino catch him as she tackled him to the ground, and he found himself pinned, sitting in the grass with his back to a tree trunk while Ino straddled him.
"Got you. Ready for your punishment?" Ino joyfully asked, and before Ren could answer, she was already kissing him with passion, her arms finding their way around his head.
Ren snaked his right arm around Ino's waist and pulled her body closer to him, while the hand of his other arm gently landed on her posterior.
Ino broke their kiss and gasped. For a moment, she smiled before Ren's lips claimed hers again, and her tongue stuck out, demanding entrance into Ren's mouth.
Ino chakra tugged at Ren's clothes, and slowly, her chakra strings started their attempt at undressing him, just as he did the same.
As they were about to lose each other in the passion of the moment, their heads suddenly snapped to the left as both registered two massive, foreign chakra signatures appearing smack-dab in the middle of their sensing range.
Somebody was forced to stop suppressing their chakra. Somebody strong.
Ren and Ino looked at each other, their expressions showing almost the same reluctance to stop.
"We could ignore it?" Ino asked with a hopeful tone.
"... Y-" Ren was about to agree when the two foreign chakra signatures pulsed and four more, weaker but still Jonin-level signatures burst into life near them.
With a suffering groan, Ren let his head fall into Ino's bosom, and the blonde girl let out a defeated breath as her chin gently landed on top of his head.
"Aw, fuck. We can't ignore this." Ino answered her own question as she sensed the beginning of the battle, her tone conveying exactly how much she did not want to separate from Ren right now.