(Author's Notes: Please be sure to read the author's notes at the bottom after the fic. Thank you.)
True Blues Don't Lie
Chapter One: Three Blondes and a Bombshell
Sakura gritted her teeth as she stared at her challenge. It wasn't going to be easy. It wasn't going to be pleasant. Still, she had faced the task before and gotten through, even though there were fierce battles involved that often resulted in neither side gaining a clear victory. Her foe was waiting for her. She could see that easily. So at least, she had some preparation for the conflict. She would get what she came for. There was no doubt in her mind.
She approached the portal confidently, opened it, stepped in side...
"Welcome to Yamanaka's flower shop... billboard-brow." Ino smirked, and Sakura sweat-dropped.
"And a good day to you too, Ino-pig!" Sakura snapped. "We really should stop calling each-other that, you know. We're not in the academy anymore." She sighed.
"True enough. But don't friends always get on each-others nerves, just a bit?" Ino asked innocently.
"A BIT?!?" Sakura huffed. "Oh, whatever. I'm just here to get a bouquet for my mother." Sakura began looking over the flower selections. Ino watched her silently for a minute or two, then took a cautious breath.
"So, any word about-" Ino began.
"I don't want to talk about it." Sakura cut her off quickly, but seemingly politely.
'I guess that's a no, on several levels.' Ino thought. 'No word on Sasuke, and she's still sensitive about it.' Ino realized trying to press that topic would be pointless. Instead, she redirected her attention to her current job. "Any particular type of bouquet you're looking for, or is it just a general occasion?" She asked instead.
"General, but I'm still looking for a good color coordination." Sakura replied, not showing whether or not she was grateful that the other subject had been dropped.
"Well, what colors are you-" Ino paused as the door bell rang again as the door opened. "Welcome to Yamanaka's flow-Oh, hi Naruto-san." Ino waved.
"Hi Ino-san!" Naruto waved cheerfully.
"Naruto? What in the world are you doing here?" Sakura asked in total befuddlement.
"What? I come in here all the time." Naruto said off-handedly as he made his way around the shop, picking up several very specific items, showing that he obviously knew what he was looking for.
"You do? Why?" Sakura was still clueless as to why a goofball like Naruto would be in a flowershop, instead of a ramen stand.
"To pick up gardening supplies, duh!" Naruto rolled his eyes, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He took his few selections over to the counter, paying as Ino wrapped them and put them in a bag. "Thanks, see you next week Ino-san! Bye, Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved again as he walked out. Ino turned from watching him exit back over to a gape-mouthed Sakura.
"Something wrong Sakura-san?" Ino asked curiously.
"Was that for real? Naruto, in a flower shop, buying gardening supplies?" Sakura asked, stupefied.
"Sure. He's been coming in every monday for years, unless he's out on a mission, to pick up whatever few things he needs to re-stock on." Ino said, slightly amused at her pink-haired companion's surprise. "Interesting that you didn't know that. He's got a very impressive, if small, flower garden. I saw it once, and believe me, he takes very good care of it."
"But why in the world would Naruto have a garden? It really doesn't seem like something he would do. It takes too much patience for that hyper-active knuckle-head." Sakura frowned, trying to picture Naruto smiling and humming as he weeded out a flowerbed, which brought to mind one particular memory. "I've seen him in a garden before. It was one of our earliest D-rank missions, and he completely destroyed the herb garden of the woman we were supposed to help!" Sakura snickered at the stupidity of her teammate.
"Well, I wouldn't know about that, but I did ask him once about why he has a garden, and, believe it or not, he sees it as a challenge of responsibility. He said that 'It takes much more skill and dedication to help something grow than it does to just destroy something'. He sees it as training to become Hokage." Ino shrugged, though she was smiling. And Sakura noticed as she paid for the flowers she had picked.
"So, I guess that means you and Naruto have something in common other than being stubborn and nosey." Sakura smirked.
"What!?" Ino gawked as Sakura made a hasty retreat.
"And being blonde-bakas! And loud-mouths!" Sakura laughed as she ran off, leaving a seriously fuming Ino to rant behind the counter of the shop.
A ninja that had been lazily strolling along paused at the sight and sound of the screaming girls.
'Never a day goes by that some girl isn't screaming about something. They're so troublesome.' He sighed, continuing on.
Tsunade normally wouldn't be caught poking around the record's room in the Hokage tower, and that was the whole point. She figured it would be the last place Shizune would look for her, giving her some time to sip her sake in peace.
'Don't know why I didn't think of this sooner.' Tsunade thought happily in her semi-drunken buzz as she downed another cup with enthusiasm. A bit too much enthusiasm, as the act of throwing back her head caused her to tip back in her chair. Fortunately, she didn't fall completely over, but unfortunately, her chair, and head, bashed into the shelf behind her, shaking more than a few books and scrolls loose to fall down on top of her.
Cursing with only moderate volume, Tsunade quickly set her sake aside to prevent it from splashing over the documents. She then had no choice but to start putting the various records back, because she figured if Shizune were to come in the room later and see things disturbed, she might catch on to Tsunade's hiding place.
She had most of the items back on the shelves when she picked up a medium-sized scroll that, for some reason, struck her as out of place. Not out of place like it was simply in the wrong file, but out of place that it seemed like it didn't belong in the room at all. It didn't seem as old as most of the other scrolls and books, though it obviously had a few years of dust worth on it, and it seemed the wrong type of scroll for permanent records like those that were supposed to be kept in the room. And the most curious thing, it had a seal on it, which was definitely out of place. Any record or information sensitive enough in nature to warrant a seal was supposed to be kept in a separate, much more secure area in the Hokage tower. But Tsunade wasn't looking to get involved in paperwork, hence the reason she was drinking sake when she was supposed to be working, so she just went to place the scroll back onto the top shelf where she believed it had fallen from.
Freezing ice down her spine made her whip around, eyes darting around the room, but saw nothing.
'What the heck was that? I'd swear someone was watching me just now.' She thought, suddenly surprisingly clear-headed. She stared into the empty room for several more moments before finally relaxing. 'That was really weird. I haven't felt anything like that in years. Like back when I was just a kid...' Tsunade thought as she went to put the scroll away, only to have her spine freeze up again. 'WHAT THE HELL!?' She thought angrily, looking around the room again. Finally, she looked down at the scroll in her hand. 'Ok, someone is obviously trying to tell me this is important. And I'd be a pretty lousy Hokage if I didn't trust my gut at least once in a while. So I might as well see what's so special about this thing.' She carefully put away her sake as she sat down at a desk.
The seal on the scroll was actually nothing very special, just a simple self-destruct that was meant to burn the scroll if improperly opened. So it was barely even a nuisance as Tsunade released it. She unrolled the scroll and began reading, only to gasp at the contents.
'This is a record from the Kyuubi attack thirteen years ago! What is something like this doing with the general records!?' She thought in shock. As she continued reading, a tight pain in her heart caused her to grind her teeth at the information that hit close to home for her. 'A record... of the families of the shinobi that died in and after the attack...' She couldn't stop her mind from flashing to the deaths of her brother and fiancé long before that time, and then, the one boy who had become even worse than merely an orphan because of his fate in that event. When she pulled the scroll open further, a paper that been tucked into it slipped out. She picked it up to look. 'What the?... This is...' She began looking back and forth between the paper and the scroll, until she spotted it. The most likely reason that the scroll had been hidden.
And that reason... made Tsunade MAD.
Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were coming back from the most dreaded of tasks. The ever despised D-rank mission.
"Aw man! I thought we were past these ridiculous missions! I mean, I know we're still genin, but come on! We've been through plenty of tough missions! When is Tsunade-baachan going to let us get back to the serious stuff!? Ever since she became Hokage, it's like everything is all jumbled up! She's been grouping teams together in the most bizarre combinations and sending us out to do the most odd-ball tasks!" Naruto was complaining, loudly, like usual. "I mean really! I still can't believe they call these stupid things missions they're so pathetic!"
"Naruto-kun..." Kakashi sighed, shaking his head in an almost bored manner.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, 'we have to take the missions we're given, and the village can't turn down requests, and blah, blah, blah!' I haven't forgotten! It's everything Hokage-jiji explained back when-ever! But it still really stinks!" Naruto harrumphed, crossing his arms. Then he noticed how Sakura had a evil grin on her face. "Huh? Sakura-chan? What is it?" He asked nervously.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that if you don't want do D-ranks, then perhaps while you're waiting for your 'big missions', you could..." Sakura trailed off, trying to suppress her giggles.
"Huh? What? I could do what?" Naruto asked, blushing slightly at her giggles, thinking she could mean...
"Well, why don't you go tend to your pretty little flower garden?" Sakura mocked with exaggerated innocence, batting her eyes as she strained against the urge to laugh her guts out. Naruto groaned.
"Hmm? Flower garden?" Kakashi asked, still in the half-bored inattentive tone. Naruto went rigid with a sweat drop.
"AH! Nothing Kakashi-sensei! She's just joking! Right Sakura-chan? You're just joking, RIGHT?" Naruto had a huge, exaggerated smile stuck on his face as his eyebrow twitched in irritation at his teammate.
"Why, whatever are you talking about Naruto? You seemed so at ease talking about your precious flowers with Ino-chan!" Sakura teased with glee, making Naruto blush harder.
"Wh-what are you talking about? I hardly said anything to her! Besides, we have an agreement, talking shop happens in the shop, and everything else is left outside! Ok, ok, so I don't deny it, but I don't brag about it either!" Naruto hissed harshly at Sakura.
"Huh? What?" Kakashi said. "Look, it's obvious you two have things to discuss, so I'll just be on my way. I'll see you tomorrow morning for our next mission. Ta!" He vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Sakura-chan..." Naruto groaned. "Why'd you have to go and say that?" He whined.
"Relax Naruto, it's not likely that Kakashi-sensei has any interest in your hobbies, or would bother even remembering to mention it to anyone else." Sakura waved him off nonchalantly. "But I have to admit, I am a little curious why you never mentioned you had an interest in gardening. And if Ino-san has been seeing you in her shop every week, why wouldn't you two get along better than you do?" Sakura asked with genuine interest.
"Ehh, I don't know. Like I said, when I go to the shop to get my supplies, she's friendly enough, but if we meet anywhere else, she's loud, stubborn, she complains, has a short temper, has trouble paying attention even though she has a one-track mind..." Naruto muttered idlely as they walked.
"So in other words, she acts just like you." Sakura said, though she said it in such a off-handedly casual manner, it passed right by.
"Yeah, completely! Sometimes I wonder how anyone can put up with someone like tha--!" Naruto froze, his mouth agape. He glared at Sakura, who gave a huge cheshire-cat grin before speeding off as fast as she could.
"So glad you see my point!" She laughed like crazy as Naruto chased after her.
"Sakura-chan! You meanie! How could you trick me like that! Come back here, I'm going to frizz your hair so bad you'll BEG for bed-head!" Naruto screamed as he chased after his teammate.
Down the end of the street, a girl that had been watching while half-hidden behind a sign blushed slightly.
'It's nothing to be ashamed of Naruto-kun! Someday... I hope you'll let me show you my flower!' She thought happily, blushing even harder for no-one to see.
Tsunade strode rapidly down the street, heading towards a specific residence that belonged to the man who was the current head of the Leaf Village's medical council, Famsuyo. He was a fairly well respected man who was knowledgeable in his skills. But unfortunately for him on this day, he would only be lucky enough if his skills kept himself alive.
The cold-eyed Hokage passed through the small gate to the grounds of the manor, heading straight towards the door. Truthfully, she had been quite prepared to simply smash it open, but it was actually opened by the very man she was seeking before she could even raise a fist.
"Oh! My Lady Hokage-sama! What a surprise! I was just on my way out-" He started with a smile but gasped as the confronting woman pushed him back inside and shut the door behind herself.
"Change of plans. You're staying in because we have something to discuss." Tsunade snapped harshly, making Famsuyo blink in shock at her tone.
"Wh-what? What is it Hokage-sama? An important matter? What has happened?" He asked seriously. Tsunade pulled out the scroll from her kit and tossed it to his fumbling hands. Recovering, he opened it. "What is this?" He asked, but after a moment of reading, he stiffened slightly, looking up at the stone-faced sannin.
"We are going to discuss you, that scroll, and this." She pulled out the paper that had been tucked in the scroll, showing it to him. When he saw it his eyes widened slightly before narrowing.
"I don't understand." He said cautiously.
"Why the hell did you do this?" Tsunade demanded, shaking the paper at him. "What in Kami's name gave you the right to do that to them!?"
"What are you talking about? I was trying to protect an innocent child! You find fault with that?" Famsuyo snorted as he rolled up the scroll again.
"I certainly do! And I bet Sarutobi-sensei would also, except something is telling me even he didn't know about this!" Tsunade snatched the scroll back from the aged council man to put it back in her kit. "SO. I think we should go over what happened," She brought up her hands to crack her knuckles, "And if you're memory starts to get dull on any details, I'm sure I can figure a way to sharpen it again." She glared at him with a look that in the past had made even Jiraiya faint, but Famsuyo obviously had no idea how serious she was. Either that, or he was just going senile.
"The matter was dealt with thirteen years ago! It's over, done with, old news, and it turned out just fine!" He retorted. "Why even bring this up anyway?" He asked, slightly confused.
"Simple. Once I get the details from you and the others involved, I'm going to tell them." Tsunade sneered. Famsuyo blanched.
"Y-you can't! Do you want to cause a panic!? Ruin her life!? You'd put the entire village in danger!? And for what!? What possible reason could you have for wanting to make such a horrible mistake!?" Famsuyo raged at his Hokage.
"Mistake? MISTAKE!? You're the one who made a mistake! Who knows how much better their lives might have been if they had known! And you're the one who put the village in danger! With him not knowing, he might have turned out worse than even you feared! It's nothing less than a miracle he's turned out like he has!" Tsunade shouted. "And if she had known, if she had been with him, who knows how much stronger she might have become by now!? This is your doing! So now you're going to help me fix it!" Tsunade approached the suddenly very frightened council man.
There were quite a lot of smashing noises coming from the house for the next few hours.
Three days later
Ino sat as still as she could considering her current situation. She was aggravated, frustrated, tense, and just all around annoyed. So her twitchiness was understandable, if distracting.
"Ino-san, you'll never be able to think of a move if you don't calm down." Her bored opponent droned.
"Quiet Shikamaru-san! I can't think of a move with you telling me to hurry up every five seconds either you know!" Ino snapped as she glared down at the shogi board.
"What're you getting all pissed at me for? You're the one who asked me to play, remember?" Shikamaru yawned.
"I know, I know, I know!" Ino pounded her head. "Just give me a second! I'm going to do this! I'm not giving up!" She glared at the board even harder.
'Man, what a drag. She's so stubborn, getting worked up over the smallest things. She's not even that good at shogi, but she still insists on the occasional game.' Shikamaru though to himself, looking up at the clouds as he waited for his teammate to make a move. 'No matter how bad she's loosing, she just won't go down without fighting tooth and nail to the end. She's as bad as Naruto-kun. Though during our last two games, she has improved a little.' He sighed.
"AHA! I've got it!" Ino suddenly shouted, making Shikamaru look down at the board in time to see her move a piece into a new position.
"Wh-what the!?" He gawked at the move as Ino sat back with a grin.
"What's the matter Shikamaru-san? Unhappy with the turn of events? Well it serves you right for underestimating me!" Ino's grin got even bigger. Shikamaru groaned.
'Oh man, I've seen that smile before. I'm in trouble...' He scratched his head, trying to think of how to escape the danger, both on the playing board, and from Ino pummeling him if he won again.
Shizune was worried. For the last few days, it seemed as if the world had been turned upside-down. It wasn't right. It wasn't natural. It made Shizune doubt her own sanity. Where once she couldn't have bribed the Hokage to stay in her office for a few hours, let alone keep her awake, now Shizune had a very different problem.
Tsunade wouldn't leave the Hokage office.
Shizune slowly opened the door, peeking inside. Tsunade was sitting in her chair, looking out the window over the village, looking absolutely miserable. She had been like that for the past two and a half days. As Shizune approached, she also took note at the lack of sake bottles or the smell of same in the room.
"Tsunade-sama, you can't really continue being Hokage if you won't even talk to anyone." Shizune said cautiously.
"I've been a kunoichi for basically my entire life." Tsunade said quietly. "I go into battle, facing enemies in life-or-death conflict. I have to decide how to fight, whether to strive to kill the enemy, or to make the effort to protect myself and my team. This is most often a relatively simple choice, with the results being immediate and unchangeable. Now, as Hokage, I make decisions about missions, sending teams out to risk their lives. I try to decide who is best suited for each mission, to minimize the risk they have to face." Tsunade still hadn't even moved, as Shizune stood in surprise and confusion as she listened. "By making these decisions, I am potentially changing peoples lives because of what events they will face. But again, most of these choices are straight-forward and unchangeable after the fact, even if they are a bit more unpredictable in their end results." Tsunade took a deep breath to calm the tension that had been building in her voice. "But even those types of decisions don't compare to the ones I make as a medic. Because there is more than just life-and-death decisions to make. There are decisions that I have to make, even if my patient is definitely going to live, that will change how they live their lives. If I have to make a choice that might cost them their leg... or their vision... Something that they would have to come to terms with, that would change who they are." Tsunade let out a small growl. "But this... This is so far beyond any of that!" She suddenly shouted, slamming her fist down, nearly breaking off the arm of her chair. "I thought it was a simple matter. I was certain about my course of actions, then that damn fool had to go and open his mouth!"
"Tsunade-sama, what are you talking about?" Shizune asked worriedly. There were very few things that could really get the powerful sannin so agitated in this manner, and none of them were good.
"That rat Famsuyo-teme... He got me so worried about what will happen, that now I can't decide whether to tell them or not!" Tsunade seethed.
"Decide what!? Tell who!? What are you talking about!?" Shizune demanded. Tsunade turned in her chair with a surprised look, as if she hadn't even known her assistant had been standing there. After a moment she sighed.
"On the desk." She waved. "You can look so long as you promise not to speak to anyone about it without my say-so." Tsunade turned to resume looking out the window.
Shizune looked over to see the desk, clear except for a single opened scroll and three pieces of paper. She leaned over to examine them, reading each, noticing where Tsunade had marked them up, pointing out specific notes. Shizune's eyes slowly widened.
"B-but... This... This is..." She gasped.
"Yeah. Quite the surprise, isn't it? So much, it shocked me sober when I first found it." Tsunade said, rubbing at her eyes.
"But, I don't understand. Why would you be uncertain about this? Surely it's the right thing to do by telling them! This is important! Something anyone in their position would definitely want to know about!" Shizune protested.
"You're forgetting who we're talking about here." Tsunade shook her head. "Sure, this might turn out to be the best news he's ever gotten in his life. But then again... Finding out this was kept from him... He might not be so happy with that part. There's no telling who he would blame, if he blames anyone. It's too hard to know with him." Tsunade sighed again. "And her predicament is almost the complete opposite. She probably won't like finding out. It would most likely shatter everything she thinks she knows or believes. And there's also the matter about how she feels about him currently, not so good from what I know at the moment." Tsunade frowned. "He wouldn't care about that kind of thing, but she might take it as... well... she'll definitely have a harder time accepting him."
"Yeah... I see what you mean." Shizune sighed sadly. "But regardless, it's been kept from them for this long, and no matter what problems might arise, it is the right thing to do, telling them." She turned to face the Hokage. But it was several long moments before she replied.
"Yes... you're right. And there's no point putting it off. Make sure they're both available and bring them here. And her parents also. I'm sure they're going to want to speak their part, for all the good it will do." Tsunade ordered. Shizune bowed and left, leaving Tsunade to her own thoughts again. 'Sarutobi-sensei definitely would've been able to handle this better than me. But I honestly don't think he even knew. That bastard Famsuyo was far too sneaky, and it was all the easier for him in the chaotic events going on back then. So easy to make them disappear in the commotion. But now I have to deal with it.' Tsunade scowled at the mental image of how badly things might turn out. After a moment she gave a snort. 'Maybe I'll just hand Famsuyo over to them, let them work out any anger they have on him.' She smirked evilly at the thought.
Naruto took careful aim as he launched a rapid succession of kuni at a multitude of targets of various shapes, sizes, angles, etc. The chorus of thunks, thwacks, whacks, thuds, duds and bangs was, for a moment, a real ear-full. As Naruto stood half-doubled over, gasping for breath from his fortieth or so run-through, his training partner checked his accuracy on the targets.
"I just don't understand you Naruto-kun. How can you be total clown in one set of assaults, then nearly perfect in the next, only to miss completely following that?" Tenten groaned in frustration as she walked through the masses of weapons that were strewn everywhere. "It would seem you're quite distracted today. Care to say why?" She looked at him expectantly.
"Ah, it's nothing really. Just a sense I've developed in my life that tends to go off when I'm about to face something serious. Just make sure you're out of dodge when whatever it is, hits. Ok?" Naruto gave a silly chuckle-grin. Truthfully, he was terrified that Tenten would question further. But she, thinking he just meant that usual danger sense that all shinobi develop over time, just accepted his answer and was about to begin her instructions again when she paused to look past him. Turning around, Naruto saw Shizune walking towards them.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important." She said in a suspiciously careful manner. Tenten noticed as Shizune's eyes seemed both anxious and sad as she regarded Naruto, who of course, was oblivious.
"Training is training, whether today, tomorrow or interrupted! Whach'a need, Shizune-san?" The blond asked with a big, care-free smile.
"Well," Shizune took a slow breath to make sure she didn't stutter, "Naruto-san, Tsunade-sama needs to see you on a very important matter. You need to report to the Hokage's office." She explained. Naruto looked at her with wide eyes.
"An important matter?" He asked excitedly. "Is it a mission? A real mission? Something major that only the number one ninja in the village can handle!" He was jumping up and down, making the two women present sweat-drop. "Alright! Alright! Finally, I can get back to the action! Uh... but actually..." Naruto paused suddenly.
"What is it?" Shizune immediately asked in worry, only to be nearly droned out by a sudden loud growlumbling.
"It's already lunch time! Can I get something to eat before I go?" Naruto asked with a embarrassed smile while scratching the back of his head, making the two women sweat-drop even bigger.
"Uh, yeah, I guess that's ok, but head straight for the Hokage's office the moment you're done. Ok?" Shizune instructed, while Tenten was snickering.
"Right!" Naruto gave a ridiculous salute as Shizune turned and left. Naruto turned to his training partner. "Sorry Ten-san, gotta go! You can handle the clean up, right? After all, they're mostly yours anyway! Alright! Ramen, here I come! RamenRamenRamenRamen-...!" Naruto ran off excitedly to get lunch, leaving a gape-mouthed Tenten.
She slowly looked around at the thousands of weapons all around her.
"This is the only part of being a weapon specialist I hate..." She groaned, never noticing a timid girl disappear from behind a tree off to the far side.
Ino had just set the 'out to lunch' sign on the shop, and headed quickly down the street to her house. It might have seemed a bit strange to some to do this, leaving the shop just for lunch, instead of simply bringing one to eat. But Ino had two reasons for doing what she did. The first one was simple. Since her house was only just down the street from the shop, it wasn't really a hassle to simply walk the small distance. The second however, was a much more personal reason. She wasn't the diet freak that she led people to believe.
'I'd never live down the embarrassment if anyone were to find out how much I actually eat when in private!' Ino was thinking to herself for the millionth time. The same thoughts she has every time she is about to eat. 'It's pure torture to hang around with Choji-san, seeing him happily munching down anything in sight, when everyone expects girls like me to be picky and fussy about our figures, even if I don't have to! I could eat Choji-san out of house and home any day of the week, but the very thought of seeing a beauty like me scarfing down plate after plate of food like a pig-,' Ino growled as the thought of the favorite insult of a certain pink-haired kunoichi echoed in her mind, '-is just so... so... un-lady-like! So what if I could out-eat Naruto-san at a all-you-can-eat ramen buffet without gaining a single pound, it just wouldn't be civil!' Ino huffed to herself, even while thoughts of the massive lunch her mother would have hopefully have ready for her made her mouth water.
Ino quickly entered her families house grounds and made her way inside, the smells of cooking food drawing her irresistibly towards the kitchen. But when she finally got there, she stopped in surprise at the scene in front of her. Her father, Inoichi, was standing and facing a woman in a brown outfit, who had her back to Ino currently, and her father had a stone-grim face of restrained anxiety that Ino had only seen a number of times in her life that she could count on one hand. Ino's mother, Incandara, was standing over the eating table trying to arrange food on the plates in front of her, but only trying, since her hands were shaking so badly she couldn't even put the baked potatoes in the right place. And the fact that tears were falling down her fright-white face didn't help either.
"-I'm sorry, but it is the order of the Hokage." The woman in brown was just finishing saying to Inoichi.
"What's the order of the Hokage?" Ino asked suddenly, making everyone flinch and turn to look at her. Incandara went from looking upset to out-right panicked, while Inoichi just seemed to steel himself further.
"Oh, Ino-san! Well, this is coincidental timing." The woman, who Ino now recognized as Shizune, addressed her. "I was just about to come over to the flower shop to get you."
"What's going on?" Ino asked nervously.
"Ino, we'll be eating a small lunch, they we are to report to the Hokage's office." Inoichi said evenly, while Incandara just seemed to be trying to hold in her sobs.
"Am I in trouble?" Ino asked, now very scared. To have the Hokage's assistant come to her home, looking for her, for some reason that had severely upset her parents, and then have to be seen by the Hokage herself was not a situation that Ino had ever thought would happen to someone like her. Maybe to Shikamaru, since he was a chunin now with more responsibility, or maybe to a politically active major clan like the Hyugas, or heck, even to Naruto with the amount of trouble the hyper-active knucklehead was always getting into, but certainly not to Ino!
"No, you're not in trouble. But there is a very important matter that the Hokage wants to talk to you about, and your parents were offered to be included-" Shizune explained.
"Which we will be!" Inoichi interrupted, and Incandara sobbed again.
"-So as soon as you're ready, come to the Hokage's office." Shizune gave a bow and turned to leave until Ino spoke again.
"Wait a minute, you didn't say what the matter was! Why does the Hokage want to see me?" Ino asked insistently, only barely calmed from the assurance that she wasn't in trouble.
"I'm afraid it's a rather sensitive subject. It's best not to discuss it before Tsunade-sama explains things. Although, I'd assume that afterward, you'll be left to decide your own actions." Shizune said with a disturbingly sad tone as she left. Ino turned to her parents.
"What's going on!?" She demanded. But her parents just sat down to eat.
"Don't eat too much. Then we'll be going." Inoichi said solemnly, while Incandara just resigned herself to hide her face in her hands.
Ino sat down to nibble on a bread roll, but her appetite had vanished.
"Wow! The ramen is even better than usual today!" Naruto beamed happily as he slurped up the noodles of his eighth bowl.
Sitting at his favorite place in the whole village, it seem like he hadn't a care in the world. As his chef and friend, Ayame couldn't help but always smile whenever the hyperactive ninja came around. Perhaps it was the fact he was so hyper, having so much energy that it simply spilled over into everyone around him. Or perhaps it was his simplistic honesty, even if he was rather blunt and rude at times, everyone always knew exactly where he stood.
Or it could be that he almost single handedly kept Ayame and her father in business.
"Well, I'm certainly glad you like it! Better finish up so you can get going!" She smiled at the walking golden haired stomach.
"What're you talking about Ayame-chan? I'm no where near being done! I'll have a pork miso next please!" Naruto called as he held up his empty bowl.
"But Naruto-kun," The young cook blinked in confusion, "Didn't you say when you first sat down that you had to hurry because you had to go see the Hokage?" She questioned, holding off on the next bowl for a moment. The ninja nearly jumped through the roof.
"WHAT!? Oh man! What time is it? Oh no, I'm gonna be late! Arrghhh! I'm turning into Kakashi-sensei! I gotta go, thanks for lunch Ayame-chan!" Naruto jumped, twisted, slapped down the money for his meal and left a dust trail as he raced down the street towards the Hokage tower.
Ayame was laughing so hard she nearly dropped the noodle pot.
"AACHHOOO!" A silver haired ninja sitting in a tree nearly fell at the severity of his nasal interruption. He recovered, but only to find he had lost his place in the book he had been reading, and that his beloved mask was now stuck to his face with snot.
Shizune was worried as she stood to one side of the room that was the Hokage's office. She looked at Tsunade, then to Ino and her parents that had shown up several minutes ago. Everyone seemed anxious to start, but they were still short one loud-mouthed genin. Shizune wondered what could possibly be keeping Naruto, since he normally jumped at the chance for a major mission, even though she had never actually said it was a mission.
Ino was worried as she sat in one of two chairs in front of the Hokage's desk. The fact that there was a second chair was making her nervous. When she and her parents had arrived, she had assumed that they would take the seats and she would stand. Her heart had skipped several times when the Hokage had directed her to sit in one of the chairs and her parents to sit to the side. With that done, of course it made sense when Tsunade had said they needed to wait for one more person. Ino couldn't help wonder what kind of mission it was going to be, although no-one had actually said it was a mission, and even if it was, she couldn't think of any obvious reason why were her parents were there. And by offered invite, not by order. Things were just too strange for her. Ino wondered who the other person they were waiting for was.
Tsunade was worried as she sat in her seat, looking across her nearly clear desk at Ino, and occasionally glancing at her parents, who flinched every time she did so. She wondered what the hell was keeping Naruto, although to be fair, he hadn't been told what exactly was going on, so had no real reason to hurry any more than he usually did. She glanced at the clock. Only five minutes had passes since Ino had arrived, and Tsunade already felt like she had been waiting five hours.
'That knuckle-head will give me an ulcer one of these days with the crap I go through because of him.' Tsunade thought in agitation. She tried to calm herself and her breathing. 'I'm this nervous, and all I'm doing is telling them. They're the ones who have to live with it.' She glanced at the clock, to see that only one and a half more minutes had passed. 'Keep Ino nervous while she waits, or hurry up and get to the news that is guaranteed to upset her? Hmm.' Tsunade considered her two options, and sighed. "Shizune, see if you can go find-"
"SORRY I'M LATE!!!" Naruto burst through the office door to skid to a stop. He looked around at the people in the room that all had their hair standing on end from the sudden shock.
'Forget the ulcer. If he keeps this up, I'll croak from a heart attack before I can even name a successor.' Tsunade thought in annoyance. "Just take a seat Naruto! You're only seven or so minutes late, so just forget about it." She directed him to the seat next to the very surprised Ino, into which he eagerly hopped.
"Well, that's better than Kakashi-sensei at least! You see, I was eating lunch and got caught up trying new combinations of ramen-" Naruto started to explain, only to be interrupted by a very cross Ino.
"That's the stupidest thing I've EVER heard! You actually expect us to believe that you kept the Hokage waiting because you were distracted by noodles in a bowl!?" Ino screamed angrily, although she was thinking otherwise. 'Oh man, sweet noodles, soft chicken, every conceivable flavor all mixed into the broth! He was enjoying a full lunch while I was busy worrying! I wish I had eaten more than a few rolls of bread!' She thought miserably at her empty stomach.
"No, that sounds about right for Naruto-kun." Tsunade commented, trying to hide a small smirk behind her hands that she had interlaced in front of her mouth.
"So, Ino-san! Looks like we'll be teaming up for this mission!" Naruto said cheerily, but paused to look past her. "Hey, aren't those your parents? What are they doing here? Are they going to be in charge?" He asked curiously.
"NARUTO!" Tsunade yelled, making everyone jump. "This isn't a mission." She said, trying to steady her nerves.
"WHAT!? Not a mission?" Naruto freaked, jumping to his feet. "Shizune-san said you wanted to see me for something important!"
"It is important! In fact... you might consider it more important than a mission." Tsunade said, knowing that would get his attention, and was pleased when his jaw dropped.
"W-what? More important than a mission?" He asked in disbelief. "How can that be?" Naruto's eyes seemed to unfocus into the distance as he scratched the back of his head. "Escort... assassination... diplomacy... recon... babysitting..." He was quietly mumbling to himself.
Ino wondered what the heck he was doing, but Tsunade and Shizune had a pretty good idea. They realized that Naruto was going over virtually every kind of mission or action that a ninja might do in their life, trying to think what could be more important than a mission without being a mission. Which, of course, was contradictory.
"Naruto-kun, I say you might find this more important than a mission, because it isn't shinobi related. There is nothing 'ninja-ish' about this meeting." Tsunade explained. Naruto looked at her like she just said she was giving up sake.
"Wait a minute, if it isn't ninja related, then why have my parents here?" Ino asked, very confused, curious and worried.
"Well, because they're going to want to-" Tsunade started to say, but Shizune gasped.
"Wait a minute Tsunade-sama!" She interrupted, making everyone look at her. "I just realized, do you think we should have Iruka Umino here as well?"
"Iruka-sensei? Why would he need to be here? For this not being a mission, you're sure making it sound like it should be!" Naruto glared in confusion.
"Yes, why would he be needed?" Tsunade asked Shizune with a slight frown.
"Well... since... you know... he is the closest to being..." Shizune gestured to Naruto in a nervous manner. The whisker faced ninja just tilted his head at her at the even further confusion, but a look of understanding passed over Tsunade.
"Oh, I see what you mean... but no. 'Being close' is not actually 'being'. I'm afraid Naruto-kun is on his own for this." Tsunade said sadly. Shizune's shoulders slumped as she lowered her head in a depressed manner.
"On my own for what? What is it already!?" Naruto demanded.
"If we're not in trouble, why are my parents here? Is it a mission or not?" Ino chimed in, glancing at her parents as her mother stifled a sob.
"It's not a mission! Sit down Naruto!" Tsunade shouted, slapping her desk with a harsh slam. The hyper-nin sat down, glaring at the Hokage. She sighed. "This is something... that I discovered several days ago." She motioned to a scroll and papers on her desk. "I asked you here to discuss the information I found in it." She took a slow deep breath. "And I'm afraid that you probably won't be too happy about what it is. You see, this scroll is a record of deaths from the Kyuubi attack thirteen years ago-" She noticed that Naruto suddenly went rigid in his chair, "-and there are repercussions as a result."
Shizune watched as the Hokage opened the scroll to begin the explanation, and could only feel miserable at her own helplessness.
A quiet girl with dark blue hair and pearl-like eyes sat on a bench watching the Hokage tower as she carefully nibbled on the noodles from her bowl of ramen. She had seen the only orange-clad ninja in the village enter the tower just a little while ago, and she now gazed at the upper floors, up to a specific window. She had been intending to simply wait for the boy in question to come out, but she suddenly felt a horrible chill shiver down her spine despite her bulky coat, making her pause in her eating.
'I hope Naruto-kun is ok.' She thought unhappily under the massive feeling of anxiety, as she looked back up at the tower again, fighting the temptation to take a closer 'look'.
Laying in a grass clearing of one of the smaller training fields stretched the laziest ninja in the Leaf Village. He had just finished lazily eating his lunch, lazily found this nice spot to lay, and now lazily spent his time lazily watching the sky. Or more specifically, the clouds in it.
He watched as two small white fluffy clouds that had been drifting in perfect parallel across the blue came together abruptly, becoming a slightly darker gray in the process.
'Oh man, now even the clouds are telling me there's going to be trouble. What a drag.' The lazy ninja frowned.
One hour and twenty three minutes later...
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE!!" Ino screamed in tears as she held her hands over her ears, her back pressed against the wall as she was sliding in a stagger towards the door, seeking escape.
"Ino! Please! Don't be like this! We didn't want to hurt you!" Inoichi pleaded as he held his arms out to his daughter, who only flinched away faster.
"We only wanted to protect you! We love you Ino, and that won't ever change!" Incandara cried, also wanting so much to hold her little girl, but couldn't bring herself to move.
"I'm sorry you feel burdened by this, but I thought it was the right thing to tell you!" Tsunade was trying to be firm, but the tragedy of how things were going were threatening to bring mist to her eyes as well.
"LIES! LIES! YOU'RE ALL LIARS! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!" Ino wailed as she scrambled out the door.
"Ino-!" Inoichi started to pursue but...
"Leave her be." Naruto, who had been utterly silent for the past hour finally spoke, and his quiet tone cut through the room as sharp as lightning. Inoichi jerked to a stop faster than if he had been grabbed by his friend Shikaku's shadow paralysis jutsu.
"But she-!" He tried to say.
"No. You'll only make things worse. Go home and wait for her. If you don't let her calm down on her own, she'll never trust you again. You have to let her convince herself to be ok. It's the only way. Now go home and don't tell anyone about this." Naruto said, his head low as his hands were shaking in fists on his knees where he sat.
"He's right. It's probably best to let Ino-san have some space at the moment. You should go now." Tsunade sighed miserably as she flopped back into her own chair. The Yamanaka's glanced at each other for several moments, trying to decide their response. Finally, they nodded.
"Hai, Hokage-sama." They bowed and left, leaving Tsunade and Shizune alone in the room with Naruto. A fact that was making them strangely nervous.
Naruto slowly rose from his chair, and turned to start towards the door himself, but stopped after only three steps. Sensing the tension in the air growing, Tsunade cautiously spoke.
"Naruto-kun, I'm sor-" She tried to apologize.
"You should have told me first. Alone." Naruto said over her. "You have no idea what kind of burden you have just placed on her. You have no idea what kind of danger she might be in now." His voice was still low, but seemed to be getting darker.
"I think you're overreact-" Tsunade frowned as she tried to cut in.
"You haven't been here long enough to know." Naruto spoke over her again, beginning to make the two women uneasy. "You've been away, and can't know, with how busy you've been getting the Village back in order." He paused, still with his back to them. "Now, I sincerely doubt that the Yamanakas will tell anyone about this, and I'm definitely not going to be telling anyone about it. I want you two to swear you won't tell anyone either." Naruto said with a definitive order in his tone. Shizune was pale and trembling, but Tsunade bristled slightly at Naruto's attitude.
"Why? I'd have thought you'd be thrilled by all this. I don't see why it's necessary to keep this a secret." She said.
"Because, if this gets out, and Ino-chan suffers because of it..." Naruto let out a rumbling growl that reverberated off the walls. "I swear, I will personally tear the Hokage mountain crashing down onto the village!" He turned to look at them over his shoulder with bared fangs and merciless red eyes. "Am I clear?"
"Hai!" The two women squeaked with faces as white as ghosts. Naruto stared at them for a moment more before making his way out of the room, gently closing the door behind him with a 'click'.
The two authority figures remaining in the room stayed frozen for several seconds, until Shizune jumped over and yanked open a drawer in the Hokage's desk. Tossing papers recklessly, she uncovered and grabbed a not-so-secret bottle of sake, popped the lid, and attempted to up-end the whole bottle down her throat. Tsunade lunged and smacked the bottle out of her hand to send it to the floor, shattering.
"Killing yourself from alcohol poisoning isn't going to help matters!" Tsunade yelled at her assistant. Shizune whimpered as she moved to clean the mess as Tsunade sat back down in her seat and leaned over her desk for support.
Tsunade was, by most people's account, pretty arrogant. Personal problems not withstanding, she had always been one of the best. Strong, brilliant, skilled. In the past twenty or more years, there had been next to nothing in the way of problems or opponents that she couldn't handle, and that had developed into a personality that left her without concern to any threats made against her. In short, she would sooner take a red-hot spike up her ass than ever admit to being afraid of anything. So it was no small matter that she admitted, if only to herself, that she had just been scared to the edge of a heart attack not but a moment ago.
'The day we met... Running into Jiraiya dragging that gaki along with him... I knew who Naruto-kun was... I knew that he was tougher than any regular genin... He always claims that he can take on anybody... I knew he would always have an edge over others... But since meeting him... all this time... I'd never seen... IT... before now.' Tsunade looked at the door that Naruto had exited from. 'It's no wonder why Orochimaru-teme was so determined to kill him. Naruto-kun himself may be a loud-mouthed tenshi... but he has one HELL of a temper if pushed too far.' Tsunade gulped at the mental image of Naruto doing exactly what he had promised, him standing on top of the mountain, his chakra blasting off the faces of her predecessors, the stones raining down onto the screaming people below... Tsunade shuddered. 'I'm not even sure what he was talking about. Why would Ino-san be in danger from this? I would think the worst is already over... I hope.' She put her head down onto her arms, seeking to slip into blissful unconsciousness. 'Please Kami... Let me have done the right thing.' She prayed silently as Shizune finished cleaning up the sake and stumbled out of the room.
For once, the ANBU and clerks in the Hokage tower found themselves needing to stay clear of the Hokage's assistant, rather than the Hokage herself.
Sakura was having a fairly normal day. Got up, ate breakfast, spent the morning working on her taijutsu since she didn't have a mission and waiting on Kakashi would be pointless, and ate lunch. Now she was walking down the street, heading for the Hokage tower for her afternoon medic training. She was actually feeling pretty good with how her day was progressing, and was looking forward to her time with the Hokage. She was still a bit overwhelmed every time she realized that she was being personally trained by one of the Sannin. Well, Naruto was too, but his teacher was a pervert, so how much help could that be? She snickered to herself.
She strolled along leisurely, just letting the day soak into her, but her calm was broken by shouts from up ahead. She saw a person running blindly, crashing into people and objects as they made their way rapidly towards her. As the person in question got closer, Sakura's eyes widened as she recognized the light blond hair and dark blue-ish purple cloths of her (sorta) friend, Ino. As Ino got closer still, Sakura realized why the blonde was zigzagging and crashing into everything. She was crying so hard she couldn't see where she was going.
"Ino-san! What's wrong? What happened?" Sakura asked in concern as she tried to intercept her agitated (maybe) friend. But the instant she grabbed a hold of Ino's arms...
"NO! NO! STAY AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME! LET GO!" She flailed wildly, shoving Sakura away and down to the ground quite hard, then speedily continued on her un-even course down the street.
Sakura was at a loss. Out of all the times she had ever seen Ino angry or upset over something, this had been the first time she had ever seen Ino so... unfocused about her discontent. Normally Ino would rant and scream directly at whatever was bothering her, but the feeling that Sakura had felt from her in that brief moment was almost completely chaotic. Like Ino was upset at everything. Everything in the entire world. For less than a second, Sakura considered her options before jumping up and rushing after her (slightly) friend. But Ino already had a surprising lead, considering her distracted state of mind. Sakura was catching up, when Ino stumbled over... her own feet, by the looks of it. As she was picking herself up, she froze, which allowed Sakura to finally reach her.
"Ino-san! What's wrong? Whatever it is, you can tell-" Sakura stopped when she realized Ino wasn't listening.
Ino was, instead, looking into a mirror that was hanging on the outside wall of a shop. She was entranced by her reflection, but not in a good way. Ino seemed horrified at her own face. Sakura watched as Ino brought up her trembling hands to touch at her chin, cheeks, pulling at a strand of her hair. But then her fingers returned to her cheeks, just under her eyes. And Ino stared into her own eyes. Sakura watched in worried confusion as Ino began trembling harder, tears reasserting themselves, her breaths becoming choked gasps until...
"YEEAAAGHH!" Ino screeched as she lashed out to smash the mirror with her bare fist.
"INO! What're you do--ARGH!" Sakura moved to help her (unstable) friend, and received a back-hand to her face for her troubles, knocking her down again as Ino ran off. Sakura jumped back up again, and wiped at her face, her hand coming away with a slight trickle of blood. She looked at the now broken mirror, seeing the small splatter of blood across it, obviously from Ino's knuckles. 'What the heck is going on? I've never seen Ino-san this upset before! I've got to stop her before she hurts herself any worse!' Sakura thought in panic, taking off once more.
The chase led back to the Yamanaka flower shop where, by the time Sakura reached the door, considerably out of breath, Ino had locked herself inside. Sakura could see her (borderline) friend slumped over the counter still crying herself senseless, her limp arm hanging over the edge, her bloodied knuckles readily apparent. Sakura banged on the door, trying to get Ino's attention, heck, trying to get her just to look up, but without success. Getting desperate, Sakura took a step back, aimed, and drove her own fist at the lock of the door...
A hand lashed out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her momentum completely. Sakura started at the interrupting hand, coming out of an orange sleeve...
"Don't bother her. She needs to be alone." Naruto stated firmly.
"W-what? Naruto? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked in absolute confusion, then jerked in realization. "Naruto! Ino-san is in trouble! I've never seen her this upset! She-"
"Needs to be left alone. If you try to do anything, you'll only make things worse. It may take days before Ino-chan is able to speak to anyone clearly." Naruto tilted his head at her. "Although I can't say whether or not I truly understand the odd relationship between you two, I can say that if you really want to consider yourself her friend, you have to let her deal with this herself." Naruto insisted. Sakura stood gape-mouthed.
'Is this really Naruto? He sounds completely different than usual. He's not smiling. His eyes are... are... so sad' Sakura blinked at her blonde teammate. "What are you talking about? Friends are supposed to help each-other out!" She argued, foolishly not noticing Naruto tense at her statement. "Besides, how would you know what's bothering her?" She asked suspiciously. Naruto narrowed his eyes at her before starting to drag her away by her wrist. "HEY! Naruto, stop it! Let go!" Sakura yelled, trying to pull out of his grasp.
Naruto pulled her just a few yards down the street, then turned into an ally. He looked back out to the street for a moment to see if it was clear before turning back to a still confused, but now also irate, Sakura.
"I know what's bothering her, because I was there when it happened. It's a very serious matter that, unfortunately, can't be helped or eased by anything more than the time that Ino-chan needs to come to terms with it." Naruto said quietly, as if afraid someone would overhear. Sakura glared at him for a moment.
"Well? What is it already?" She demanded, while slightly curious at her companions statement. 'Ino-chan? Okaaaayyyy... That's new. What happened to make him consider her such a close friend now?' She wondered as Naruto's whole body seemed to deflate slightly as he lowered his eyes.
"I can't tell you." He said in a regretful tone.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T TELL ME!?" Sakura yelled in outrage. "You'd better tell me what's going on right now, or I'll-" Sakura had raised up her free hand to hit Naruto over the head, but before she could, he grabbed her fist and slammed her against the building wall.
"SAKURA!" He shouted right into her face, and she couldn't help but cringe at the ferocity of his voice... and the darkness in his eyes. "Don't interfere." He whispered, then abruptly released her and walked away.
Sakura remained leaning against the wall, her eyes wide, unwilling to let Naruto's last words settle in her mind.
'No... It can't be... That... That was what Naruto said... just before Sasuke-kun left...' She thought in horror. 'Is this... Is this as bad?... What's going on?... No... I can't... I can't loose another friend...' Sakura unconsciously massaged her wrist that Naruto had pulled her by. 'Naruto said he was there when something happened to Ino-san. Was he involved? Or did he just witness it and was sworn to secrecy? Or maybe... Maybe what happened, happened between him and Ino-san. But what could it be?' She slowly walked to the edge of the ally and looked out, but saw no sign of Naruto's orange jacket anywhere on the street. She walked back to the flower shop and looked in the window, but Ino was gone. Sakura slowly started back towards the Hokage tower for her afternoon training. 'I'm sorry Naruto... I stayed out of it before, and we lost Sasuke-kun. This time, I am getting involved, and I'll find out what's going on.'
Hinata had been very confused when Ino had come running out of the Hokage tower in tears. That confusion had turned to extreme worry when she saw Naruto come out just a few minutes later with a deadly serious face, and a spiked chakra, an indication of severe agitation. When she saw him go off in the same direction that Ino had, Hinata followed as quickly and quietly as she could. She followed him along as he seemed to be following an invisible trail that kept passing people who were either brushing themselves off or picking up objects that had been seemingly knocked over.
'Is Naruto-kun looking for Ino-san? I wonder what happened. They both seem so upset, though in different ways.' Hinata thought to herself as she continued following her secret love through the streets of the village.
She watched until she saw Naruto quickly approach a pink-haired girl, Sakura, who strangely, seemed to be franticly trying to get in the door to... the Yamanaka Flower shop.
'The flower shop?' Hinata thought strangely as she saw Naruto prevent Sakura from breaking down the door. Hinata activated her byakugan for only a moment to confirm that, yes, Ino was inside the shop, still in total distress as she sobbed over the counter. 'Sakura-san must've run into Ino-san, and is trying to find out what's going on also.' Hinata thought, but started when she realized Naruto was pulling Sakura away from the shop. She watched as Naruto pulled Sakura into an alley, forcing her to activate her byakugan again to see them. Reading their lips as they had a brief argument, Hinata gasped when she saw Naruto catch Sakura's raised fist and push her into the wall. It scared Hinata to think what could possibly have made Naruto so agitated as to act that way. 'Naruto-kun never treats his friends that way! He must be extremely upset over whatever happened to Ino-san! Something he feels responsible for! Maybe I could try to help...' She watched as Naruto walked out of the alley and started down the street, deep in thought, and this time, with no apparent destination in mind.
Thus began Hinata's task of trying to determine the cause of the latest pain in her secret love's life. She followed him even more diligently over the subsequent days, watching his every move. And much to Hinata's dismay, she saw, that even though Naruto seemed his normal hyper-happy self, there was a definite, nearly unnoticeable tenseness to him. A mannerism Hinata hadn't seen in Naruto since he had graduated from the academy. It was a sign of Naruto's uncertain anxiety, that he didn't know what or when, but he was practically expecting something bad to happen, whether to him, or around him. Hinata also noticed that when Naruto would walk down streets, though from all appearances looking as if he were just going about his normal business, she could just barely tell that he seemed to give glances to certain people or shops. Those certain people that, from what Hinata could recall, had always been exceptionally mean and rude to him, and even to this day, always glared at him as if trying to drive him away. Only now, Naruto was giving his own variety of glares back at them, also something Hinata couldn't remember Naruto doing before.
Then there was the one or two times that Naruto happened to cross paths with Ino. The first reaction to both was, of course, surprise. The second, for Ino, was pain as she would cringe back with a look of accusation towards Naruto. He on the other hand, while also seeming in pain, would become downcast with a look of guilt. And although Naruto tried to speak each time, Ino would move on without giving him a chance. And in each instance, Naruto would be left in a noticeable slump for several hours afterwards, nearly bringing Hinata to tears from seeing his enthusiasm so dulled.
Seeing him, or them (to be fair), like that, made Hinata wrack her brain trying to think of what could have happened in the Hokage's office that had caused the problem between them. But she was coming up blank. As far as she knew, aside from some slight tension over Sasuke back at the academy that had faded over time, the two of them got along fairly well. Especially considering their common interest in botany, with Naruto visiting Ino's shop at least every other monday, or more. It was unlikely that they were having a disagreement over a mission, as Hinata hadn't seen or heard of them going out on a mission together since the day it all started. It was possible that it might be a mission that was some time away still before it could be done, or even a continuing mission in the village, but Hinata doubted those options. The first one since it wasn't normal operational procedure to take so long to prepare for a mission, the latter because Hinata hadn't noticed Naruto doing anything in the village that constituted a ongoing mission. He was just going about his normal D-ranks, and complaining about them, as usual.
After about a week, Hinata and her team were assigned a mission to visit Wave Country that they would leave the following day, and would be gone for two or three days. But that was still time that she knew she might miss something important. Hinata couldn't not notice how even more stressed the Hokage had seemed than usual when she had assigned the mission, but Hinata was far to scared to dare ask her what had happened. That would simply be far to traumatic, not to mention, improper. So she concentrated even harder on Naruto during the day she had, but nothing particularly stood out that she hadn't already made note of before. Past lunch, into the afternoon, and even as the sun was going down, Hinata followed Naruto everywhere.
With it now dark, she knew she would be expected to return to the clan estate soon, but her gut, and her heart, were telling her to follow Naruto for just a little while longer...
Unlike Hinata, Sakura had opted to follow Ino. Sakura figured that with Naruto in the state he was, considering how stubborn he could be, getting anything out of him would be about as likely as Kakashi burning his little orange books. Unfortunately, Sakura had even less time to follow Ino on any given day than Hinata did Naruto.
It was easy for Sakura to keep a distance as she followed her (getting there) friend, considering Ino's lack of attention to anything other than her own problems, evidently. The first and most startling thing Sakura discovered, was that whatever problem Ino had, it wasn't just with Naruto, it was also seemingly with her parents. Sakura saw how Ino avoided them, refused to talk to them, glared at them, and was just overall, all-around rude to them. Sakura foolishly got the idea to ask them what was wrong with Ino, but all they would say was that it was 'family business', and for Sakura to politely stay out of it. When Sakura had asked what Naruto had to do with what was going on, they had become severely cross and then demanded that she 'not interfere'. That, of course, only made Sakura even more frustrated, determined and confused. Their reaction was proof that Naruto was involved somehow, but she couldn't figure out how he could be involved in the Yamanaka clan's affairs.
Sakura continued to keep tabs on Ino as best she could over the following days, taking note of how very quiet and tense Ino was, snapping at virtually everyone around her for any small reason. Ino didn't gossip, didn't go shopping for anything other than food, and seemed to be actively avoiding getting into any unnecessary conversations. She was even avoiding the other rookie genin, including Sakura whenever Ino managed to notice her nearby. Whatever the problem was, it was obviously consuming her every waking thought.
When Ino crossed paths with Naruto once or twice, most obviously by accident, Sakura observed their reactions to each other with disapproval. Seeing Ino's anger, aggravation, and even a little fear, coupled with Naruto's stress, sadness, and guilt, Sakura jumped to the summery conclusion that whatever happened was 'clearly' Naruto's fault. But that still left her wondering what Naruto could have done that had become 'Yamanaka family business'.
Had Sakura known that they had both come from the Hokage's office on that first troubling day, she might have been tempted to ask Tsunade what was going on, but since Sakura didn't know about that, she only had further trouble added to her plate from Tsunade's seemingly inexplicable even-shorter-than-usual-temper during her medic training in the last several days. Sakura was quite irked over how it seemed whenever she worried about Naruto, her whole life just got a whole lot more difficult.
After about a week of unsuccessful investigation, Sakura was really steamed. It had never taken her so long to find out details on one of her friends going-on's before. But then, Ino was usually a semi-willing co-conspirator on gossip, and since she was not being of any help, Sakura was just spinning her wheels. She was angry that there didn't seem to be anything she could do about a situation that she couldn't even discover the details on, and she was slightly hurt over how Ino and Naruto, her (supposed) two best friends, refused to tell her anything.
Ending yet another day of uninformative frustration, the sun had already set as Sakura was following Ino for the last of the day back to her home. Sakura knew she probably should have headed home herself already, but she was loosing her temper over the whole matter.
She was seconds away from just running up to Ino and throttling some answers out of her...
To say that Naruto was depressed would be an understatement. He was having arguably one of the worst weeks of his life, and for those who knew him well enough, ie, no one, they would know that to say something of that magnitude was practically a sentencing to hell. He had tried to act normal, tried to make it seem like there was nothing going on, but no matter where he went or what he did, it was all secondary to the unbearable pain that was weighing on his mind and heart.
Of course nobody suspected a thing. He was Naruto, the Leaf Village's number one unpredictable ninja. Anything unusual about him was business as usual for everyone else. Even if there was something wrong with him, no one noticed... or cared. Not his friends, not his senseis, not anyone who would even spare him a look. And worst of all was the one person he suddenly would have done anything to get even so much as a hello out of, Ino.
Naruto had followed his own advice that he had told both Ino's parents, as well as Sakura, and had tried to give Ino time to herself to deal with matters. But avoiding her couldn't stop him from thinking about her, and of course, it only hurt all the more when he would bump into her on the street from time to time. He tried to say something, anything, but she wouldn't listen. She just avoided him, ran past him, anything to keep from confronting him.
A week. A week of feeling more alone than he ever had before. A world full of people, and only one Naruto. He needed to resolve the problem, he wanted to have everything be alright, but he had to talk to Ino to do it.
It was already dark as Naruto was walking back to his apartment, trying to decide if he should try to talk to Ino the following day, or try to keep his mouth shut and leave her alone.
'After all, the less she knows about me, the better off she'd be. I can't let her get involved in the problems centered around me.' Naruto thought to himself in misery as he walked along. Noticing the sound of another set of footsteps on the otherwise empty path he was taking, he looked up to see, to his astonishment, the very person he had been thinking about, coming the opposite way down the path.
Ino was walking hurriedly down a back-way path to try to get home as quickly as possible. She had been at the academy library and had lost track of time. As much as she currently disliked it, she knew she had to get back to the house. She thought she was in the clear until she chanced to look up and see Naruto walking towards her on the same path from the opposite direction.
'No, please not now, not yet! I don't know what to say to him yet! Why!? Why did he have to ruin my li-- NO! That's not fair! It wasn't his fault! He didn't know either! I can't blame him! But I can't blame my... parents, either! They were only trying to protect me! And the Hokage was just performing her duties! So who can I blame? I don't know... It just hurts... It hurts so much...' Ino struggled against her tears as she forced herself forward, the only direction back to her house. She tensed as she and Naruto got closer.
"Hi Ino-chan, how've you bee-" Naruto tried to say, but Ino just rushed past him, not even looking at him. Naruto stopped as he fought down the pain with tightly shut eyes and clenched teeth. "Do you really hate me that much!?" He blurted out harshly. When he heard her footsteps stop, he slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at her.
"I... I-I... I d-don't h-hate you..." She choked out slowly. "It... It just h-hurts..." She whimpered, with her back still to him.
"Yeah. It does." Naruto mumbled. "I'm sorry about all this. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know before Tsunade-baachan brought us to her office. I could never have guessed that this could be possible. I'm sorry." Naruto said, finally glad to get it out.
"What are we suppose to do?" Ino asked after a moment of silence, still not willing to face him.
"I... would think... that we're supposed to try to make the best out of our situation. Though, I can understand how that might seem hard right now." Naruto shrugged at his less that completely helpful advice.
"Hard? How could you see this as hard? There's nothing hard about this for you." Ino said with a trace of coldness in her voice.
"Of course it's been hard for me, for both of us! I've had to think about this all week just like you have!" Naruto's tone took a slight edge. "I've been worried sick about you! I've been worried about how our lives will change now!" Naruto took a breath before continuing in a quieter tone. "I don't want us to fight. I couldn't take adding another pain to my life-"
"YOUR LIFE!? YOUR LIFE!?" Ino burst, whipping around finally to reveal the rage of her tear-streaked face. "You're not the one who's LIFE has changed! You're not the one who's life is a LIE! YOU'RE NOT THE ONE WHO FOUND OUT YOU WERE ADOPTED!" Ino raged at him. "You have no idea how much pain I'm in! You have no idea how I feel at all!" Ino cried.
"You're right! I don't know how you feel!" Naruto snapped back, anger filling him. "I don't know what it feels like to be adopted! I don't know what it's like to have a real home! I don't know what it's like for someone to actually care about me! To want me around! I don't know what it's like for complete strangers to look at me and decide to love me like their own flesh and blood!" Naruto raged, stomping up to a suddenly very frightened Ino. "I don't know what it's like to have people I can trust unconditionally, without being afraid they would turn on me at any moment! I don't know what it's like to walk down the street like a normal person who fits in and is treated kindly!" Naruto was now crying even harder than Ino, who was shocked at his rant. "I don't know what it's like to be looked upon like a person who is welcomed in the world, instead of being treated like a cursed de-" Naruto stopped with a horrified gasp as he jerked back.
"Naruto? What is it? What's wrong?" Ino asked in fear, unaware that she was suddenly more concerned for him than herself. Naruto stumbled back a few steps, then his head drooped down till his face was nearly hidden by the high collar of his jacket. He slowly sat down on a bench that Ino hadn't even noticed before.
"Good night Ino-chan." Naruto mumbled into his jacket, almost to quiet for the stunned girl to hear. 'I... I can't believe... I almost just blurted it out. The one thing she can't know, and I nearly shouted it right in her face. ... Maybe... I just have to let her go. It's the only way for her to be safe. I can't be sure that she'll-' Naruto's sulking thoughts were interrupted when he felt the bench shift beneath him slightly. He looked up from his jacket collar to see that Ino had sat down next to him.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun." Ino said quietly. Naruto's eyes widened.
"Ino-chan? Wh-what... what are you..." He stammered in shock.
"It's just like me, isn't it?" She chuckled half-heartedly. "We both get caught up in this unbelievable situation, and yet all I can do is think of myself. Even when you're trying so hard to help me." She was still crying, even though she had forced a smile to her face as she looked up at the stars. "It's weird. You read stories about this kind of thing happening to people, but you never think it could happen to you. It's all just so incredible." She looked over to a still wide-eyed Naruto. "And the most embarrassing thing is that Hokage-sama was right. The clues that were right out in the open were so obvious, yet we never even noticed. And I used to consider myself smart." She shook her head as she looked back up at the stars.
"You are smart. Smarter than me at least." Naruto commented quietly, as he joined her in gazing at the heavens. "When we found out... All I've been able to think about this past week is you. I feel... ashamed, of not being there with you. All I can think about is being with you, and yet... when you seemed... you seemed to want nothing to do with me... You were right, when you said it hurts." Naruto was strangely calm as the tears continued to stream down his face. "But if you just want to forget this whole thing... It's probably for the best anyway." He said, sounding completely crushed. Ino's attention snapped to Naruto sharply.
"Forget it? How the hell could you want to just forget it?" She demanded. "I thought you-"
"I don't want to forget it, and I never will." Naruto interrupted harshly before settling back down. "It's just... you know... It wouldn't be nice if you and your parents to have to put up with gossip... or awkwardness with your friends over this. It just doesn't make sense to cause you trouble when it's so easy to avoid. We just keep it secret. No big deal." He shrugged. "Believe me, you'll definitely be better off if no one finds out."
"Why? What would be so bad about people finding out we're-" Ino frowned in confusion.
"It just is, ok? You have to take my word on this. Trust me." Naruto said seriously, but then turned fidgety. "But, um... if you don't mind, I would still like to spend some time with you... if that's ok... you know... if your parents are ok with it." Naruto mumbled nervously. Ino now looked very confused and perturbed.
"What? How do you expect that to work? You say you're happy about all this and want to spend time with me, but then you say you don't want anyone else to know? How the heck could we hang out without people noticing?" Ino glared at him slightly. "You're making no sense at all."
"Um... well..." Naruto fumbled, trying to think of a response. Ino shook her head.
"Look, I think we've talked enough tonight. At least we broke the ice, so maybe tomorrow we-" She sighed.
"TRAINING! That's it! We could train together! That way no one would be able to tell a thing!" Naruto suddenly blurted excitedly. Ino blanched.
"Oh no. No way. I've seen your method of 'training'," Ino quoted the air, "Going crazy and pushing yourself so hard until you pass out from chakra exhaustion? No thank you, not interested." She stood up.
"Awww, come on Ino-chan! It will be fun! Exciting!" Naruto said eagerly. "I bet if you just try, you could improve lots! You've never tried my method of training before, so how do you know you wouldn't be able to get real strong? I'll teach you everything I know! I'll help you become the strongest you can be! It just has to work! After all, since we're-"
"That's no guarantee, and you know it. Just because you're a chakra freak, it doesn't mean I'll be able to become one." Ino waved it off as she began walking away.
"What about the next chunin exams? With Shikamaru-kun already promoted, you need a third team member! I could help you lots!" Naruto begged.
"Good-night Naruto-kun." Ino said, still walking. Naruto innocently rolled his eyes up to regard the stars again.
"You'd be able to beat the stuffing out of Sakura-chan the next time you two square off." He said with complete casualness. Ino froze in mid-step. Her ears twitched. "I mean you know, with her being trained by Tsunade-baachan now, I figured you'd want to try to keep up somehow." Naruto continued, absently inspecting his fingernails as Ino suffered a full body shiver. "But, I guess I could be wrong. After all, with you're mind-transfer jutsu, why would you have to worry about her chakra super-strength that she's developing? Or her advancing evasion skills?" Naruto was idlely sharpening a kuni as Ino's head began to slowly twist around. "And I'm sure her ability to take out any muscle in your body with a single tap would be no trouble for you at all-"
"Ok, so we need to talk to Asuma-sensei and Kakashi-sensei about scheduling our regimen, plus ask Tsunade-sama about having you join us on our missions. And we need to figure out which of your training exercises will work best for me..." Ino was suddenly right in front of Naruto, making notes on a small pad of paper. Naruto let loose a HUGE fox grin as he took her hand, stopping her writing.
"And we can do that tomorrow." He said with an amused smile, making Ino blush in embarrassment. "Don't worry, I mean every word. I'll help you with anything you need. All you have to do is ask." Naruto smiled reassuringly to her.
"Thanks... That's real nice of you. I mean, considering we only just found out a week ago, and you're already trying to be all... well, you know." Ino blushed a bit more.
"Hey, what's family for, eh, Ino-neechan?" Naruto cut loose with one of his irrepressibly infectious super-smiles. Ino was helpless against it.
"Yeah, thanks... Niisan." She smiled back at him.
"Great! Then I'll see you tomorrow!" He waved as he started off.
"Hey!" Ino called, making Naruto pause to look back at her. "I just want you to know... you really are a great guy. Sakura-san doesn't know what she's missing out on." Ino said, taking amusement in Naruto's drop-jawed response. "And if you EVER tell her I said that, I'll rip out your spine and make you floss with it! Well, goodnight!" Ino called, running off, now very late to get home.
Naruto's mouth just kept flapping in shock as he made his own way back to his lonely apartment.
Hinata was quickly making her way back to the Hyuga estate, her cheeks glowing red with joy and embarrassment.
'I don't believe it! Naruto-kun and Ino-san are brother and sister! Naruto-kun has family after all!' She was so happy for her secret love. 'That's so wonderful! He deserves all the happiness he can get! And Ino-san is so lucky, now having Naruto-kun looking out for her more than anything else! I know they'll help each-other a lot!' She was nearly skipping along, despite one confusing thought. 'But why would Naruto-kun want to keep it a secret? He said he wants to spare the Yamanaka's any gossip grief but... Oh, wait, now I see. He wants to spare Ino-san from... THAT. But even still, I know they'll be fine! Ino-san surely has the same special spark that Naruto-kun has! They'll be able to accomplish anything as long as they stick together! I'm so happy for them!' Hinata beamed to the stars as she entered the Hyuga estate, full of joy, despite the lecture she received for being late.
Sakura had no idea how she got back home. One minute she was secretly listening to Naruto and Ino, and the next, she was laid flat out on her own bed, staring up at the ceiling. She could only lay limply as images rolled around endlessly in her head. Images of two blue-eyed blonds. Two loud blue-eyed blonds. Two loud and stubborn blue-eyed blonds. The two loudest, most stubborn, most annoying blue-eyed blonds. The brother-sister blue-eyed blonds. Her two best friends. And now one was going to train the other.
'Ohhhh, Kami... I have such a terrible headache...' Sakura groaned.
Long after the two blonds had gone their own ways, the shadowed figure sitting in the tree that stood above the bench where they had sat remained in thought over the event that had transpired.
'So... That's why she wanted me to watch him... It would indeed be a most unpleasant problem should his anger be triggered over this matter... It would seem that the watch over him now has to be taken much more seriously... The lives of the civilian villagers will depend on it.' The figure didn't bother moving, just falling asleep on the branch as is.
End of Chapter One
(Author's Notes)
(Ok, now before you get all picky about how long this chapter is, let me say my piece. This story idea just makes sense to me. Who knows why, it just does. And while I'm sure most of you figured out what I was going to do just with the titles and first few scenes, I just had to draw out the suspense. After all, if I'm going to write something, I'm going to at least go through the motions of actually writing something worth reading. I don't want to just blurt out the key facts and stumble on without fleshing out the plot.)
(Some people may say I go overboard with detail, but hey, I'm good with detail when I want to be, and like they say, go with what you're good at. Although I obviously left out one very important detail, ie, the entire Hokage office revelation scene. Why? Not sure. I guess I felt it would ruin the remainder of the events, with everyone being all secretive, but the readers already know everything? And besides, it might have been something different than what you thought. I might have made it an arranged marriage fic, or made them have some kind of prophetic duty to perform in the wake of the Kyuubi attack, or whatever. And since I've already seen at least one 'Naruto is a Yamanaka' fic, I kind of thought it would be interesting to make a 'Ino is an Uzamaki' fic, just to see what happens.)
(I'm leaning towards a Naruto/Hinata and Ino/Shikamaru pairing, but I'm not definite about Ino. Considering the funny little secret I added about her true eating habits, I might try for a Ino/Choji pairing, as odd as that may sound.)
(Last thing. I know you're thinking, 'How can you post the first chapter of a new story, and then immediately put the story on hold?' Well, the answer is quite simple. Aside from the few key plot events I will eventually include, I have no idea where to go with this story. I mean, sure, I'll have the whole training thing going on, and of course exploring what will happen with Sakura and Hinata knowing the secret, but beyond that? No clue. Types of missions? Exterior events that occur to influence interior events? I'm drawing a blank. And since I have other story ideas I can work on in the meantime, this can wait.)
(So, for those of you who read and REVIEW this piece of imaginative whatnot, if you have any REASONABLE suggestions as to what I might try for, then by all means, you may politely include your ideas in your REVIEWS.)
(Thank you very much.)
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