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Naruto's POV (Streets of Leaf Village)
Naruto walked with Ino and Neji happily. His team went from a confusing mess to surprisingly great friends. It had been a week since he and Neji had beat the shit out of each other. Naruto knew Neji had been strong. Perhaps even stronger than he had been going in. But after a few days training with his mother's focus he had grown by leaps and bounds. He had been confident the single-minded Neji would be crushed by him easily. But the Hyuga had shown a level of guts that Naruto hadn't thought him capable of. And even on backfoot maintained his cool. So impressed with Neji's effort. Naruto had decided he respected the man. Even better, the Hyuga was making an active effort to not be the worst! He still sniped constantly but they now lacked the venom they had before. Hell, Naruto kinda enjoyed arguing with the guy. Ino was easier though. From the start, she had been fairly kind to him. But from the united front they had assembled due to Neji. They had grown closer. Often when Naruto felt the need to chat, which even Naruto would admit was fairly often. He did so with Ino first. During which he had originally often said things to set her off accidentally. But now enjoying her reaction now did so purposely. He found her fun to be around when she got that spark in her. It mostly was there when she was angry but sometimes would come through passion. Though sometimes he failed the balance and Ino was unafraid of getting on him from this. Though now they could chat about most things seemingly effortlessly. Though she felt a bit different from Neji. The blonde wasn't sure what that meant yet but would figure it out as he went.
Though as awesome as that was, Naruto was mostly excited due to the bar visit finally happening. With the Genin all having various schedules and injuries, planning a big event for all of them had been difficult. But with Ino's desperate desire for a party and a chance to gossip, Shikamaru wanting to unite his old group, and Choji screening each option discussed to find a bar with; Naruto quotes "DAMN GOOD BOOZE AND FOOD!". They had eventually landed a spot and time. And most could even come! Though Sasuke declined, preferring to be on his own. And Kabuto merely didn't seem interested in drinking. So in the end all teams minus Team Six agreed to go out of the bar. Hinata decided to sit out to join Kabuto for his studies. Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba seemed ecstatic to drink. Naruto himself was unsure but saw no reason to avoid it. Sake hadn't seemed great to him but perhaps tonight would show him what was so enamoring about liquor.
His team finally arrived at the bar in question. A small bar that seemed mostly empty but well-maintained. The building is made of a brown concrete and is one story with windows facing the outside on all sides allowing for natural lighting. They could already see the large group residing within a ridiculously large booth. They sat only filling most of the booth but still allowing space for the last team. They sat left from right; Shino, Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shikamaru, Tenten, Sai, Sakura, and Yuno.
They walked into the establishment, the owner nodding at them politely. To the cheers of the group who saw them quickly. Naruto chuckled happily as he went to slide into the booth next to the beckoning Yuno. But Ino grabbed him, shoved Neji in where he tried to sit, before shoving Naruto in and taking the outside seat.
"Still marking your territory?" Yuno asked with a mock ponder.
"Shut it." Ino replied simply glaring at her. Yuno raised both her hands in mock surrender. "Good. And no I just don't like you drooling over him. So, I simply can't approve of you." Yuno merely smiled at this.
"Hahaha! You poor blonde bastard! You're being bossed around by Ino now? Guess you always were pretty weak." Kiba laughed seemingly at their antics.
"I have no doubt Naruto would defeat you Kiba. You were never able to contest me. Naruto defeated me, therefore we both would be out of your league." Neji interjected snidely. Naruto decided he liked having friends defend him.
"I also have defeated you in spars Kiba." Shino said. "It appears you may just be at the bottom of the pecking order."
"I won at least two of those spars!" Kiba yelled, embarrassed.
"Two out of five, a loser's mentality." Shino replied.
"Now now comrades, disparaging each other's strength is most unyouthful." Lee reminded.
"Not to mention childish." Sakura chimed in.
"Ya, the whole alpha male social thing is outdated." Ino informed.
"Tch, outdated my ass." Kiba muttered.
"It is," Tenten stated plainly. "But as much as listening to men being bullheaded is entertaining, can we do what we came here for?"
"Couldn't have said it better myself. At least one of you isn't troublesome. Excuse me, sir! Can you bring us three bottles of sake and nine cups!" Shikamaru called out.
"I see headbands, good to see shinobi of the next generation. Especially for their first drink. This is the house sake, it is quite good and smooth but is stronger than it seems." The owner of the establishment stated. He was a retired shinobi himself and had opened the establishment for shinobi to have a clean safe place to relax. Luckily he had heard of Shikamaru looking for a spot for their get-together and had offered it to him for a more than fair price. He quickly brought out a tray with the bottles as well as small saucers for the booze. The group thanked him as he walked away.
"Anyway as shinobi, we are now considered legal adults. We can now be sent on C-rank missions and as such are more liable to die than ever. With this in mind. Ino, Kiba, and I decided we not only needed to celebrate together, but to truly embrace the good and bad of being adults we need to get shit-faced. A proper send off the rest of our lives. Now doing a speech like that is a real drag so no disagreeing ya?" The group roared their approval at this.
"This is gonna be an awesome night!" Naruto called out. Throwing his arms around Ino and Neji.
Ino did it as well, happily cheering with Naruto. "Yes! Let's play a drinking game." Neji looked displeased to be touched but noticeably reigned himself in, allowing the blondes to shake him.
"There are games for drinking?" Sai asked curiously. "Are there ones for the food as well?"
"I'll invite you to my family's next eating competition haha!" Choji laughed merrily. Sai stared at him confused before nodding his head yes.
Tenten face palmed at this interaction. "Lemme guess, truth or dare?" She asked miserably. The last thing she or Sai needed was for Shikamaru to be able to ask them questions.
"Nooo," Ino chirped happily. "Truth or Drink."
"Not this again Ino, Shikamaru matched Tenten with his palm covering his face. "Fine but no psychoanalyzing."
Ino frowned at that but shrugged, seeming to concede. The saucers were spread out and filled for each shinobi, except for Lee who was known for his drunken rampages for even a small sip of liquor.
"Isn't this game a bit meh?" Kiba asked as he sniffed his cup. "We're all trained shinobi, we are literally trained to lie."
"That is true as unyouthful as it is." Lee said as he sipped his bottle of juice.
"We could try just being truthful." Sakura offered sarcastically.
"Actually~" Ino sang. "My daddy let me borrow a little something special. It's a seal specifically designed to glow whenever a lie is said in its presence. Give the game a bit of a stakes, no?" The group cheered at this except for Shikamaru, Shino, Sai, Sakura, and Tenten.
"They don't realize the danger of having a lie detector and booze do they?" Tenten said to the only other sane Genin.
"No." The rest said while deadpan. But with Naruto, Ino, Kiba, Choji, and even Shikamaru behind the idea it was a moot point.
"Alrighty then it's my turn since it was my idea." Ino said smiling.
"Course it is Ino-pig." Sakura said with a roll of her eyes.
"Ohhh, a volunteer? Alrighty then billboard brow. What is your cup size?" Ino said with a knowing smile. Sakura's face blushed red violently.
"I'm not answering that!" Sakura roared. The other woman in attendance nodded their heads sympathetically.
"Then you know the price~," Ino said with an evil smile.
"You're lucky I can't get immediate revenge. Just know it is coming." Sakura muttered, annoyed. Before downing her saucer. Refilling it as she pondered who to ask, her eyes landed on Kiba. He was always a bit bossy and pushy. A bit of revenge is just what the doctor ordered. "Kiba, you always had a crush on Yuno, didn't you?"
Kiba flinched mentally but with a smile simply emptied his saucer. His face is straight and smile easy. He was proud of himself for not giving anything away.
"What a drag, if you're gonna be obvious might as well just tell the truth." Shikamaru remarked.
"Oh, how cute, unfortunately, you are a bit too wild for my taste." Yuno said simply. Kiba seemed to shrink at this before pouring himself another one. Lee patted his back kindly.
"Fine brainiac your turn!" Kiba called vengefully. Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Naruto, and Choji chuckled at the dialogue.
"Go ahead." Shikamaru said simply.
"Do you like any of the women here!" Kiba said teasingly.
"Nope."
There was silence as everyone looked at the seal which remained inert.
"The women here are way too much work for my taste." Shikamaru said plainly. Ino, Sakura, Yuno, and Tenten all seemed annoyed by this. While the rest of the guys snickered.
"My turn." Shikamaru said. His eyes lazily glided over the others. He had several questions he could ask. As much as this visit was a social event. But there were several people here he had theories on. He couldn't help but ponder the opportunity of clearing his mind of the thoughts. Each of them had something that bothered the Nara. Naruto seemed to be hiding something big. He got awkward whenever people asked questions about his home life. Ino had gotten very close to the blonde, he'd admit that was just him being curious. Sai was an odd man in general, anything he could find on him would be nice. And Tenten as much as he had taken a liking to her was strange in general. His eyes shifted to her. "Tenten, why are you so supportive of Sai's oddities?" Shikamaru asked.
Tenten seemed to think for a moment. "I see something in him. I guess something similar to myself. I know how hard it can be to be different. How hard it is to let someone in. I guess I'm projecting in a sense." Shikamaru looked at this and smirked, nodding once. Tenten was surprised by how much of it she meant. She only pondered for a second. Danzo was expecting a report from her of this event Sai had been drinking the entire time. He seemed confused about the rules and was drinking on each turn. She supposed she should've stopped him, but a drunk Sai would be one unable to report to Danzo. This would allow her to edit the events to keep Danzo from learning anything too damaging. She could not ask Shikamaru anything, Sai would be a waste, the blondes were both a land field at the moment, so she decided to go for one of the ones untested so far. "Shino, why does your clan wear such heavy and covering clothing?" Shino looked at her with his sunglasses hiding his thoughts before lifting his glass to drink.
"I'm selecting Neji. Were you holding back against Naruto?" Shino asked simply. While the blonde was a friend. And he had seen his strength himself. He still struggled to see any of them defeating the Hyuga one on one. Choji and he had won mostly due to home-field advantage, numbers, and strategy. But if he had either of them solo he would've shortly dispatched. To hear Naruto was somehow at this level or possibly higher was shocking to him.
"No, I had intended to crush him to prove a point. My strikes were hard and savage. My movements were precise and efficient. I had an ultimate defense the Hyuga had used for years effectively. Somehow he had matched it several times. Even bypassing it. He was shockingly powerful. Even more surprising was how quickly his mind had grown. I had prepared for him to fully assault me with hundreds of clones attempting to overwhelm me. But instead, he used creative tactics, and surprising power to keep me back. I still landed my best techniques with no mercy. Yet he stood and then blew me away. I feel no shame in losing to Naruto. I was wrong about his ability and am honored to be his comrade." Neji lectured oddly drinking as he did so. Ino checked the seal but it said it was truthful. "Though he still is a low-class moron."
There was silence for a moment. Before Naruto attempted to strangle Hyuga, Ino pulled him back. Meanwhile, Yuno hugged Neji, whispering about her little "tsundere". Ino peeled with laughter at that. Neji frowned, it was time for Ino to suffer a bit of her own pressure. "Do you find Naruto attractive?" Neji asked Ino. With what almost seemed to be innocent curiosity.
Ino felt her blush come on. They were all shinobi for crying out loud! They were all fit as hell! Naruto for as short as he had killer abs. They all did except for Choji! Naruto also had great eyes. And a nice smile. Damnit! She briefly considered lying but knew how reliable her tool was. Instead, she slammed her glass.
Things from there had quickly gone downhill. They all after the first round viciously pursued each other. Lee and Sai being spared due to Lee not drinking and Sai being drunk already. Simply passed out on the table. The rest after grilling each other for an hour were fairly drunk too. Most of them are first-timers. Sai had been grabbed by Shikamaru to be taken home. Tenten and Sakura had agreed to get a catatonic Shino and dancing Kiba home as well.
Leaving Naruto, Ino, Neji, Yuno, Choji, Lee, and Sakura left. Things had broken down though Naruto seemed to be giving himself a speech about friendship for some odd reason. Ino now sat in his lap laughing occasionally at the speech. When she did so Naruto would laugh as well and restart. Sakura was attempting to pick a fight with the owner seemingly thinking he had called her flat-chested for some reason with Lee convincing her not to do so. She reacted to this with either genuine appreciation or true fury. Yuno was cuddled up to Neji whispering into his ear. The Hyuga merely laughed at the whisper, looking more relaxed than the others had seen from him before. Choji merely watched it all chuckling merrily seemingly being the only one not full-on drunk. But as things died down the owner had let Choji know they needed to clear out. Choji had gotten some water for his friends and got some snacks for them too. They weren't sober by any means but good enough to send home. As they all went their separate ways Ino glomped onto Naruto. Demanding a ride home. The blonde growled but allowed this. Feeling pretty damn good still. Getting home may be difficult but it had been a great night.