Author's Notes:
Welcome to the wonderful adventures of Naruto in this fanfiction created by yours truly, Minish Link. As of this first chapter, I don't have a suitable title for this fanfiction, so I'll be using a temporary one until I can come up with a better one!! Also, I'm looking for a good beta, if anyone is interested contact me however you see fit. Please and thanks!
Enjoy!Nervously adjusting the cuff of his shirt, Naruto thought back to the previous hour he had spent getting ready. He had showered for an impractical amount of time, espcially for a person who did not believe in the practice of showering daily. He had attempted to shave his unkempt beard, succeeding in grooming it with the added 'bonus' of a small gash across the base of his chin along the jawline. Unconsciously his nose had perked up as he inhaled the scent of blood, which was all the more odorous due to his enhanced fox-like senses. His crimson blood spilled into the white porcelain of his sink from the cut. Naruto turned the hot water on, splashing it over the wound even as he watched it heal and mend itself, leaving a faded scar.
It took him the remainder of the hour to find a suitable outfit. He decided upon a white cotton long sleeved shirt and a pair of khakis. After refilling his flask with hard liquor, he placed it in the side pocket of his khakis just in case things went awry. Naruto quickly entered his bathroom and unscrewed the mouthwash bottle, drinking directly from it. He swished the minty liquid around in his mouth to cover up the two shots of liquor he had taken for a calming effect, before spitting it into the sink. Locking the door to his apartment, he checked the time on his cell phone and quickened his pace, realizing he'd be late if he ambled to her house.
Naruto came out of his reverie at the sound of her front door closing, becoming speechless at the sight of his date. She was dressed in a low cut dress, revealing her ample cleavage, which he found physically painful to look away from. He looked up at her delicate face, her aquamarine eyes catching his own cerulean ones. She gave him a reassuring smile, while he gave her a foxy grin, his confidence returning.
"Hey, beautiful," he said impulsively.
It was Ino's turn to be embarrassed as she blushed from Naruto's compliment.
"Thank you. You look great, too," she half giggled.
They walked down the dim streets of Konoha, the moon their only beacon, a good time their only destination. Naruto resisted the urge to retrieve a cigarette from the pack in his breast pocket, instead fingering the gold hoop in his left ear, while they exchanged favorite colors and others. Naruto had just finished asking Ino her favorite flower, to which she had answered, the white lily, when she asked his favorite food. It had been the worst possible question she could have asked. Though Ino was not yet aware, Naruto was an avid ramen addict and she had just reminded him of the flawless delicacy. His stomach growled audibly at the same moment he snatched her hand, dragging her to his favorite dining establishment, the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.
Ino sat bleary eyed, trying to figure out how Naruto ate so much as he finished his fourth bowl of ramen.
"You... really... like... ramen...," she said bemused.
"Heh, heh, yeah," replied Naruto, finally giving in to his urge to light up a cigarette. He drew from the cigarette, savoring the nicotine being inhaled into his lungs, before slowly exhaling the smoke in a small stream that gently disappeared into midnight breeze.
"Oh, thank Kami," started Ino, "I wasn't sure if you smoked and I didn't want to look unattractive."
Ino pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse, lighting her own.
Naruto grinned.
"You... unattractive?" he said in an joking tone. This reminded him of the first time he had spoken to Ino Yamanaka. They had been around fifteen at the time. Naruto had been making his way aimlessly through the back alleys of Konoha as he often did on nights he couldn't sleep back then. The only sound audible in the darkness was the sound of aluminum hitting the street, as he kicked it around the dark corner ahead. His peaceful quiet time in the alley was interrupted by the shriek of a girl; a cry for help. It struck him odd that there would be another person around there at such a later hour, much less someone who was in danger. Nevertheless, he ran to main road from where he had heard the scream, immediately seeing a young blonde girl struggling to get out of a larger man's grip. The flickering street lamp caused their shadows to jump around in the darkness, as Naruto ran towards the pair.
He had proceeded to press force to one of the man's pressure points in his neck from behind, forcing the man to release the girl and also lose consciousness a moment later. His body fell to the ground heavily with a dull thud, while the girl dropped to her knees in tears. Naruto consoled her the best he could, which he did not think was considerably well, although she finally stopped crying after a few minutes of sobbing into his chest. He wasn't sure what had come over him, but Naruto found himself stroking her long blonde hair and whispering that it would all be okay.
"Are you alright? Did that man hurt you?" he asked finally, holding her face by the chin to look her in the eyes.
"N-no h-h-he tried t-to but y-you came r-right in t-time," she sniffled.
Naruto nodded, not trusting himself with words. Seeing this beautiful girl so distressed made him want to cut the cause of her pain to shreds. It angered him beyond belief to think what the man would have done to her if he had not arrived in time. There was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he helped her up and walked her to the Yamanaka flower shop. The way she had looked back at him after thanking him and kissing him softly on the lips made Naruto believe they would not speak again.
His had almost hit the nail on the head with this believe. Almost, but not quite. Now, almost six years later, here they were; sitting at a Ramen Bar on a date. This revelation brought him to thinking about how they had gotten together. Naruto had been sitting at his favorite place for thinking, the hokage monument, with his legs dangling off the side of the monument. He carefully studied the city laid out in front of him, watching different people go about their day from his perch. A voice sounded from behind him, a voice that Naruto would consider very attractive, although Ino's former teammates, Chouji and Shikamaru, might have disagreed, calling it shrill and annoying.
"WHY HERE!? CAN'T YOU GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!?" Ino screamed, approaching Naruto.
She stopped dead in her tracks as Naruto stood up to face her. Both their faces changed instantly, their mouths simultaneously dropping and their eyes bulging.
"You're the...," started Naruto.
"...boy from all those years ago," she finished his sentence.
They had gotten to talking and decided to go on a date. Ino had explained how she had decided to try the hokage monument to get some peace and quiet from all the noise of the village, which was why she had been upset to see someone else already there. She had no objections to his company, though, she assured him. And that was how Naruto had found himself on a date with one of the most attractive kunoichi in the village. But it seemed he had drifted off from his date, and was roughly awoken from his reverie by the sound of thunder in the sky. He examined the gray sky, which had darken significantly since he'd last looked at it. There would be a storm.
"Ino, it's about to start storming. I live right down the road from here, we might be able to beat the rain," he said.
She agreed nervously, and tread quickly as she followed Naruto to his apartment.
He shook his soaking wet hair as he unlocked the door to his apartment, holding it open for Ino.
"Heh, I thought we'd make it...," he said, handing her a towel as he dried himself with one.
Ino fixed him with a glare, attempting to dry her hair without messing it up.
The thunder roared and the lightning crackled in Konoha. Powerful winds whipped the rain around with enough force to shatter glass. All of Konoha's villagers had taken refuge inside their homes, safely tucked away from the storm; all but one. The Legendary Toad Hermit, Jiraiya of the Sannin, stood at the entrance of Konoha. He was oblivious to the rain pelting down upon him, only caring to stare at the home he had been away from for so long. A grin spread across his face as he entered the city with cautious steps. Water poured from his soaked figure as he made his way to the one person he urgently needed to see. The apartment seemed different, Jiraiya sensed a different aura from it. He shrugged off this feeling, reading the unfamiliar doormat, which said 'Go Away', before approaching the door and giving it three loud knocks. It less than one minute before the door was angrily ripped open to reveal a groggy man who was definitely not the person Jiraiya was looking to see.
"What the hell are you doing knocking on my door at this time of night?" the man demanded.
Jiraiya masked his confusion behind an emotionless face. "Err, sorry to have bothered you, but I'm looking for a man that used to live here. Naruto Uzumaki... maybe you know him?"
"Uzumaki," the man growled, "Yeah, I know 'im. Bastard moved out of here after he was promoted to Jounin."
The man proceeded to attempt to slam the door in Jiraiya's face, only to have him hold the door open. "Do you know where he moved to?" he questioned.
Jiraiya made his way to Naruto's apartment, after retrieving the address from the man, who, after some persuading, grudgingly gave it up. He began to chuckle lightly as he realized the irony of the previous situation and muttered something about heeding doormats from now on. Placing his ear against the door to Naruto's apartment, Jiraiya listening carefully for any sound from the inside. He felt a shiver run down his spine as a delighted grin spread across the old man's face. He clutched the brass door knob silently, molding his chakra into it to open the lock with a small click. The door was thrown open as Jiraiya happily watched the scene in front of him.
A shirtless Naruto, removed his face from Ino's to turn towards the front door. "What the f..." the words died in his mouth as he glared at the man standing in his doorway. Jiraiya laughed heartily as the two nearly jumped through the roof in surprise. He watched the gorgeous blonde woman quickly retreat into Naruto's bathroom, to freshen herself up, he assumed. Naruto's reaction was a bit different from the embarrassment of Ino. Actually, he stepped right in Jiraiya's face, shirtless and all, and began to chew him out.
"Naruto," Jiraiya cut him off, his voice sober.
"...you old pervert," he finished, "What is it?"
The sannin stepped inside the apartment, closing the door behind him, chosing his next words carefully.
"I'm getting old, Naruto. And weak, too. I've got so much knownledge that needs to be passed on, before I kick the bucket. I'm asking a favor of you, Naruto. The favor of a lifetime," the old man wheezed, deciding not to beat around the bush.
"I see." Jiraiya couldn't read any emotion in his voice, or on his face.
"It would be an honor if you would travel with me for one last adventure. A journey much like the last one we took for... what was it? Two years? Either way, I intend to teach you my remaining secrets, Naruto. If you agree, that is," he explained.
"How long do you think this journey will last, sensei?" questioned Naruto, surprising Jiraiya with his use of the respectful title.
"Six months. A year at most." Not exactly the truth, Jiraiya thought, but what were a couple years to one so young?
Naruto was uncharacteristically silent. His faced was scrunched up as if he were deep in thought.
"You honor me, Sensei. I accept your offer," he said finally, "When will we leave?"
"Immediately. We'll leave tomorrow at dawn, once the storm has died down. Which reminds me... I need a place to crash, my dear student," grinning innocently, Jiraiya sat himself onto Naruto's couch, succeeding in leaving it thoroughly soaked.
The blonde man nodded grimly at the fifth hokage, following Jiraiya out of her office. The two walked towards the city gates in silence. Naruto couldn't fight off a feeling of impending doom, not since the previous night. Something about the way his sensei had spoken to him gave him the distinct feeling that the sannin didn't think he'd be living much longer. True to his word, Jiraiya had woken Naruto at the crack of dawn, commenting that the storm had passed. The two had stopped by the Tsunade's office to explain their journey and for Naruto to excuse himself from his Jonin duties. They halted abruptly as both shinobi sensed the familar chakra pattern of the former female member of team seven.
She stopped in front of Naruto, looking at him with glassy eyes.
"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you, you big jerk?" her voice trembled.
Naruto found himself wrapping his arms around the tearful kunoichi in front of him. Damn, he thought, feeling a bit of regret. He had always been a sucker for a tearful woman. "I won't be gone too long," he said, deciding to ignore her question, whether it was retorical or not.
"You better not be," she whispered, her hands on his chest. The next few moments happened too suddenly for Naruto's brain to process instantly. He felt soft lips pressed to his own, and let instinct take over, deepening the kiss. They stood like that, savoring the taste of each other for what seemed like forever, and very well may have been, had Jiraiya not cleared his throat loudly. Naruto broke the kiss, staring into Sakura's eyes. He mouthed the words 'Goodbye', before turning around and exiting Konoha with his sensei.
What just happened? Naruto wondered, the revelation that he had just shared his first kiss with Sakura hitting him. Another thought entered his mind; what would Ino think? He began to recall the previous night, shortly before Ino had left.
"Naruto-kun, what's going on?" she had asked him.
"It looks like I'll be leaving with Jiraiya for a while," he said reluctantly.
"For... for how long?" she had said in an almost whisper.
"I'm not sure. A year at most," he had replied.
They had shared their own very similar version of the goodbye kiss Sakura had just given him, before Ino departed leaving him with his perverted sensei.
Naruto blinked, looking up at the rising sun as they made their way along the dirt path from Konoha. He hadn't been particularly popular with woman, until the last few years of his life, and Naruto was finding it all very confusing. Right when he thought of Sakura as only a close friend, she did something like this. And almost directly after he'd been on a date with Sakura's close friend, Ino. Now he was leaving Konoha for at least six months, most likely more, knowing Jiraiya. That would surely be long enough for Ino and Sakura to find someone else. Perhaps, it was meant to be that Naruto be a hermit. Kami, why did the world have to be so confusing? he wondered.
"Cheer up," said Jiraiya, noticing his student's glum look, "You'll be making your way down this path again, towards Konoha, before you know it."
It was not lost on Naruto that his sensei had not included himself in returning to Konoha.