"And your winner ladies and gentlemen, Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd roared in approval as the announcer raised the blonde's arm as the victor of the bout. Naruto smiled as he looked at the faces cheering him on and chanting his name. He barely felt pain or had trouble from his opponent who was knocked out in less than three minutes.

After the cheering died down he removed himself from the fighting steel cage and let other men come in to check on the guy who was still down on the floor "Might take him a while to wake up..." he thought.

Naruto had been fighting inside the Tokyo underground circuit for the last few months, fighting was something he was good at, it was not his first choice but when he discovered how much money he could make in one night only, rent and bills became a thing of the past, his only thought was where he would go to eat after the fight. The pay was excellent and without a career or any experience elsewhere, the thought of being inside an office for less money did not seem attractive at all to him. After he finished high school last year he realized studying a career was the next step, only problem was he did not know what to pursue yet, his parents, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki both had great jobs and for a while provided their son time to make up his mind about his future, but they never got a chance to get an answer.

Both had disappeared almost a year ago.

He had to improvise, with no money, he realized the only way to survive would be by doing the thing he was good at, fighting. Getting into this world was not easy for anybody, he had to undergo a couple of tests first to make sure he could enter, aside from being followed most of the time and assure he was not an informant or working for the police, this was an illegal activity after all and it moved a lot of money, they could not risk anyone to ruin it.

But Naruto was fine with this, he understood the rules of the game and played along, he knew when he was being tailed and as long as they kept their distance and not try to do anything, he would not outrun them, he could do it after all since he was no ordinary human.

Naruto was a Shinobi, someone with the ability to use Chakra, the essence of power within all living things. This gave him a tremendous advantage against a regular person, speed, strength, reflexes and resistance were ridiculously enhanced, this was also another reason Naruto chose the illegal fights, for someone like him it was easy money.

Naruto found himself in one of the locker rooms unwrapping the bandages from his hands when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" he replied, then a very short but well dressed man entered the room, he had grey dreadlocks held up with a green sweatband, red square-framed sunglasses, he was missing an upper right tooth and sported a manchu moustache and trimmed chin-beard.

"Naruto my boy! Hahaha." he patted him on the back "You never cease to amaze me!"

"Hey Chen-san, how were the bets tonight?"

"Solid numbers my boy, solid numbers!" he replied in excitement while he pulled out an envelope from his vest "Your pay, with an extra bonus for tonight's win!"

Naruto received the envelope and only put it away in his backpack. "Thanks!" he replied with a cheeky smile.

"Not counting it?"

"Should I?"

"Heh, you're a strange fellow, ever since you started here, you never check the money I give you."

"I don't have to, money is made to be spent, you have not given me a reason to doubt you, besides…" he finished removing the bandages and threw them inside a nearby trash can "You would be lying in a hospital bed already if that was the case…"

There was a brief silence in the room, then suddenly both men burst out laughing, Chen knew Naruto well enough to know he was joking with him.

"Good one boy, good one! You know, you should be in the big leagues, not here in the streets fighting for scraps."

"You pay no scraps Chen-san, I'm good here, where else would I go?"

"The West boy, in North America, that's where the real money is, someone with your fighting talent can go straight there instead of busting your ass here for much less, just a thought."

"Thanks for the compliment!" Naruto said smiling "But I don't know if I'll be doing this professionally yet…"

"Which is why you should take advantage of your youth now boy! You won't stay that way forever, so just think about it ok?"

"I will, thanks for the advice!"

Chen started walking out but stopped "By the way, there is a good looking girl out there on the street looking for you, never seen her around here, just asked for you specifically." at this comment Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"A girl? For me? Are you sure she's not looking for someone else?"

"You're the only Naruto Uzumaki here am I right? Just go see what she wants, she might be one of your fans hehehe…"

"Sure she is…" Naruto just rolled his eyes in skepticism.

With that said, Chen left the room so Naruto could finish getting ready to leave the building. While he dressed he wondered who was waiting for him outside, Chen could be right, this might some groupie looking to meet him, after all who else would be looking for him? He had learned to keep a low profile for the last couple of months, especially now since he was involved in the underground world. It was best not to put so much thought to it so after a few minutes he got ready, picked up his backpack and exited the room.

As he made his way outside to the street he noticed in the distance a figure leaning against the seat of a black motorcycle, when he got closer he noticed it was a woman, fair skin, blue eyes, long platinum blonde hair worn in a ponytail that reached probably to her lower back, with bangs covering the right side of her face and a red clip holding the left part of her hair. She had a long purple trench coat reaching to her knees, a pair of black jeans and boots. At first glance he guessed her age was around the same as his, only slightly shorter in stature.

Naruto felt embarrassed when the girl noticed he was eying her way too much, she smirked and started walking towards him, was Chen right about her? She did not look like a fan of his, much less a groupie, she was very beautiful, that much he knew, 'good looking' as his paymaster put it earlier was an understatement.

"Cat got your tongue?" she said still holding her smirk, still impressed by her looks Naruto was unable to form a sentence "I'm Ino Yamanaka, nice to meet you." She said politely offering her hand, a gesture he accepted puzzled.

"Uh, nice to meet you...?" it was all he finally managed to say.

"Are you hungry? I'm starving to be honest, let's grab a bite! My treat of course." she walked back to her bike waiting for his response. Naruto was to say the least, doubtful about the offer, her name did not ring any bells and it was a bit suspicious a stranger wanted to invite him food without motive. Ino studied his expression and smiled.

"I know what you're thinking, 'who's this cute girl inviting me to eat so late around here?', I get it, I'd be suspicious too."

"Oh sorry! It's just… well, I-"

"Don't worry, I'm used to guys getting nervous around me all the time, I won't bite unless you ask." She said winking at him. Naruto felt blood rushing to his cheeks again, not that he was a stranger to being flirted at but this was a very unusual spot for him. He wanted to respond but again no words came out, the moment could not be worse, however, Ino broke the ice again when she started laughing at his expression.

"Oooh I wish you could see your face now! Come, let's take a ride, I know of a nice place!"

She had brought a pair of helmets, she picked one and handed it to him and was about to put on her own while getting on top of her bike but noticed the fellow blonde was just looking at the helmet in doubt, she sighed.

"Hey, I feel you need to say something to me so feel free to talk..."

"Who are you really?" He looked at her straight in the eyes, Ino played innocent.

"Didn't I tell you my name just now?"

"Is that supposed to mean something to me? who sent you?"

Ino felt a bit insulted by his tone of voice, there were few people in her life who could talk to her like that and this guy was not one of them so she decided to start playing rough.

"Tell me something Naruto Uzumaki, what's it like to fight guys who can't use chakra?" Naruto's eyes widened at that question, Ino smirked at the reaction.

"I'm sorry?"

"You've been fighting here for what… three months? Thought nobody would ever notice you were cheating from the start?" she relaxed both her arms over the helmet now resting between her legs.

Naruto frowned "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Yes you do…" Ino replied with satisfaction in her tone of voice, she had caught him against the ropes "I was in the crowd tonight, I watched you fight and I understand you do it for money, I get that part, but did it ever occur to you that someone might notice at some point what you were doing? "

"Look, it's been nice knowing you but I need to get going so if you'll excuse me…" Naruto started to walk away from her leaving the helmet on the ground, nothing would prepare him for the next sentence.

"Minato and Kushina did mention you sucked at talking with women."

His heart skipped a beat, she had definitely struck a nerve when she noticed his body stiffened, his reaction was also as she expected, he returned to her and violently grabbed her by the shoulders with both hands, his face standing only inches from hers.

"Who the HELL are you?!" He questioned now clearly enraged, Ino was unfazed by his attitude however. She grabbed both his hands and without effort removed them from her shoulders to Naruto's shock, he could feel an overwhelming strength emanating from her when their skins touched. Ino smiled.

"Let's get some food, then we'll talk." She walked past him to grab the helmet he had rejected and this time shoved it to his chest, Naruto was still in awe as he received it. When both put on their helmets Ino motioned Naruto to sit behind her, he complied silently, she grabbed both his hands and put them around her waist, Naruto could not help but keep blushing like the teenager he was when this happened "Hold on." she announced as she started the motorcycle's engine and sped off into the night. Just a block away behind where they had been a black van was parked, two men inside watched the whole interaction

"Damn it!"

"What should we do sir?" asked the driver.

"Follow them but keep your distance, we can't risk engaging them without back up."

The vehicle started moving slowly and soon picked up the speed, meanwhile the man in the passenger's seat took out a cell phone and pressed 'quick dial', seconds later someone picked up.

"Sir, we have a problem, the target is not alone…"

"...Who is it?"

"The Slayer, Ino Yamanaka, she's with him..."

There was a brief silence on the other side of the line.

"How many men did you bring with you?"

"Eight sir, armed and ready."

"...I'm sending the asset, keep me posted of their location Mizuki." the man on the other line hung up before Mizuki could reply.

Both blondes ended up eating at Yakiniku Q, a restaurant Ino had recommended, according to her, the Gyūtan, or salted beef tongue there was the best she had ever tasted and it was a place her friends frequently visited. They seated next to the front window to keep an eye on Ino's motorcycle parked just outside. She urged Naruto to eat as much as he wanted knowing well his hunger was far superior than hers due the fight he had earlier. He was glad she had picked the place.

"This is really good! I wish I had come here sooner!" Naruto said while he dipped some Gyūtan in barbecue sauce.

"Glad you like it!" Ino could not help but smile at his behavior, it was amusing to watch him eat, he literally looked like a small kid inside a candy store.

"Are you sure you don't want to split the bill? I kinda feel bad you're paying everything…"

"I invited you so it's fine, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to repay me anyway…" she said untroubled, Naruto was left wondering what her response meant.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Naruto, do you wish to find your parents?" he swallow hard, in fact he gulped down the full glass of water he had served. His eyes turned into a serious look.

"Yes, more than anything."

"Then come with me tonight, I'll take you somewhere safe, then we'll start looking."

"But how do you know their names?…"

"I met them about two years ago, it's a long story..."

Naruto pondered hard on her words, Ino had baited him by naming his parents in front of him, still, she was the closest source of information he had a the moment and he felt no malicious intent coming from her, he could simply tell.

"And where will you take me? It's late, can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"There is a black van parked outside less than a block behind you..." Naruto was about to turn around to take a look but Ino stopped him "Don't, use this." she handed him a clean metal spoon that was on the table, using the reflection of the small object he could see the black van less than a hundred feet from them "They've been following us since we met, I'm afraid we can't go to your place for now, it'll only make the situation worse, I'm sorry…" Ino resumed.

"Who are they? And how are you so sure they're tailing us?" Naruto put the spoon down on the table.

"My guess is as good as yours but they've been out there since we arrived and nobody has stepped out once, I have a talent when it comes to these things…"

"...Chakra?"

"Not necessarily, they're just being too obvious." she smirked with confidence.

Naruto was no gambler but he was about to make a huge bet on a girl he didn't know at all, up to this point Ino had not shown him any reason not to trust her, he had always been a good judge of character and it had nothing to do with his chakra abilities. He would be lying to himself if the fact that she could also use chakra did not make him curious at least also, the moment her hands touched minutes earlier he felt a great power emanating from her, a feeling only certain people had transmitted to him in his life, more specifically Naruto's mother and his father.

" Let's say for a moment that I believe what you're saying and I come with you, how do I know that this isn't a setup?"

Ino smiled at him "Good question, I have something meant for you, give me your hands…" Naruto extended both his hands to her watching with curiosity what she would do next, he felt once again a chakra signature coming from her, this time however it was not her own "Now I need you to close your eyes for a moment, I'll keep mine open just in case." Naruto obliged, what he would witness next was about to leave him speechless, he found himself in an open foggy area and in front of him both Minato and Kushina, his parents, were standing, both looking worried.

His father spoke first.

"Naruto, I know this isn't the best way for you to see us and you probably have a lot of questions but we don't have much time, we're being pursued, all of us are and right now we need you to trust what we tell you and follow our words carefully…"

His mother continued "My sweet boy, my little Naruto, please listen... the world is about to change, everything you know will change, the time I have feared the most has come, the time for you to become a full fledged Shinobi..."

"Everything your mother and I taught you about chakra was for a reason Naruto, your heritage as a Shinobi will make you a target for people with hidden agendas, people your mother and I have been fighting our whole lives..."

"You can trust Ino, she's there to keep you safe, please listen to her and do as she says..."

"She will take you to meet the Hokage, and if everything goes accordingly, we will meet you there soon, for now stay with her and keep yourself out of trouble son..."

"Naruto, please always remember that we love you no matter what, you're our son and you're our most important person in the world, we didn't mean to leave-"

Suddenly they vanished into thin air. Naruto slowly opened his eyes feeling somewhat dizzy, like his brain had been scrambled as eggs, Ino had a concerned look on her face but he did not understand what it was about.

"We need to leave…!" Ino said as she watched eight men coming out of the van's backdoor, they all wore black military equipment, masks under black helmets and carried assault rifles, she calculated they had about twenty five seconds or less before they would enter the restaurant. She pulled herself and Naruto from their table not before leaving some money, then hurried to the back of the place, proceeding past the kitchen and the employees who looked just as confused as Naruto yet they continued with their labors. Both reached the back exit that led them to an alley that fortunately had people walking around looking for more food stands, Ino took advantage of this and guided Naruto through the crowd, reaching her bike was still a problem, it was parked in front of the restaurant but they would be spotted immediately if they went there, she had to figure out a plan quick.

"Follow me!"

-0-

And there we go! this is my first attempt at a story I've had in my head for some time and plan to develop into something huge eventually.

Yes, this is set in modern time as opposed to most Naruto fanfics I wanted to create a plot entirely from scratch since I'm one of the few fans of the series that was left with a bittersweet feeling about how it ended, sorry but Kishimoto kinda fucked up from my POV.

I'm always open to suggestions, also I want to release a weekly chapter if it goes well, hope you enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.