Story Summary

Ino-x-Naruto-x-Sakura

The reality of life comes down hard on everyone, Naruto being no exception. Having nothing else to turn to, Naruto fights under an assumed name day by day in an illegal underground fight club where his only job is to entertain the crowd by any means possible. What will happen when two unlikely people find out about his night life they never knew he had?

-Bringing everyone up to speed-

-Everything is the same up until Sasuke decided to leave Konoha-

It's already been three years that has past already. So Naruto and the rest of the Rookie Nine are sixteen. Sasuke never left Konoha, but still has the curse seal. Team 7 never received any training from any of the Sennins, but Tsunade is still the Hokage of Konoha. Akatsuki and Orochimaru have both been left to their devices, and aren't really relevant in this story….yet. And thus, our story continues….

-Present Day-

It was always the same.

The lights shining down from above.

The crowd always screaming at the top of their lungs.

And the ring that he always stepped into every night he had the chance.

The platform, which currently had three people on top of it, was just a square that was raised about 2 feet from the floor. If anything, it was like a boxing ring. Except, there were no ropes to keep the combatants from falling out and that this wasn't boxing. Naruto stood silently in his corner of the platform as the announcer hyped up the crowd as he did every night.

"Fox! Fox! Fox! Fox!"

Yeah. That's what they called him. It was ironic, funny even. That the people, who would normally look down upon him, now encouraged him to fight his hardest. Oh, but wait. He wasn't Naruto at the moment right? No. He was Fox, the masked ninja who was just one of the many fighters who took part in this underground fighting league. When he put on his orange fox mask, which thoroughly hid his rather unique facial features and hair, and orange costume he was no longer sixteen year old Naruto Uzumaki who was apart of Team 7 whom consisted of his friends Sasuke Uchiha and Haruno Sakura. No. He was just some random Konoha fighter who fought to earn his next meal.

Was he the best?

Hardly.

He wasn't even close to the top fighters who fought in the league. He didn't mean he couldn't hold his own against them, since he would for a little bit, but given the difference in their experience, him being a Genin and the top fighters being Jounin, it was only natural that he would eventually lose. But that wouldn't be the case tonight. Especially since his opponent was simply a Chuunin named the Hurricane. Naruto could never understand why the people who usually fought in this fight club would often pick names that made them sound strong. With most people, this guy being no exception, it always wound up being the same.

Well…It was almost always the same.

They lost.

"And…….FIGHT!" Screamed the announcer over the roar of the crowd.

"Oi Naruto! Where were you?!" Yelled an angry pink haired girl as she stood in front of a very late Naruto.

"Sorry Sakura-Chan, I got uh…lost on the road of life." Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Who said you could use my excuse?" Spoke their sensei as he suddenly appeared in front of the three teenagers with a puff of smoke.

"It's about time you showed up." Said Sasuke calmly who had already gotten used to his team's behavior.

"So what are we doing today, a mission, right?" Naruto said as his eyes lit up in anticipation toward his teacher. Kakashi had stopped holding morning training runs for them awhile ago. He had said something along the lines of them getting to the point where they had to actively pursue their own path of the ninja instead of being led by the hand, or something like that. But the point was that if Kakashi was calling them out this early in the morning, it probably had to do with something that was moderately important.

"Eh…sort of Naruto." Began Kakashi while smiling slightly from under the cover of his mask, "But actually Naruto, this mission is only for me and Sasuke."

The light of anticipation that had been sparkling in Naruto's eyes instantly died as he and Sakura both cried out together in unison. "WHAT!?"

"Sorry, but Sasuke and I will be gone for a few weeks at best."

"Wait. So we're temporarily off-duty for the time being right?" Naruto asked in an attempt to salvage whatever bright side remained in the current situation.

"For lack of better words Naruto-"

"So that's a yes Kakashi-sensei?!" Asked Sakura who looked semi-hopeful of a nice long vacation awaiting her.

"Mmmm…..Nope." Answered their sensei while smiling happily at the two.

"What!?" The two cried out together in perfect synchronization for the second time that day.

"Well, I've taken the liberty of signing the both of you to volunteer at the Academy while we're away. I had figured you wouldn't mind since you both don't have anything better to do right?"

Both the Copy Cat Ninja's students turned away for a second as if to contemplate whether it was worth arguing against their sensei but both knew whatever reasons they would come up with was never going to be good enough to contend with what Kakashi would say. Even if they said they had plans to go somewhere, Kakashi would probably say that helping out the village always came first. Technically it did, but why did it have to come first this time?

"So there are no objections?" Kakashi smiled as he paused for a second before continuing, "Good! By the way Sasuke, we leave tomorrow. Meet me by the main gate at the usual departure time.

"Fine."

"Well since we have that all settled now, dismissed!" Kakashi put his hands together as he prepared to disappear as quickly as he came but suddenly stopped himself. "Oh ya, I almost forgot. You two need to report to the academy tomorrow morning. Iruka should run you through everything, so don't be late….Naruto."

"Ya ya…" And with that, the white haired ninja vanished with a puff of smoke and all that was left was the disappearing traces of smoke that was already fading away.

Naruto stood watching the smoke for the second wondering how his sensei could do that to him, but then he quickly remembered it was Kakashi he was talking about. He wasn't one to give anyone a break unless they really needed it and seeing as how he had signed both them up without their consent, he probably believed they needed the experience rather then the rest. Naruto quickly got it over it though, like he did most things, and decided that his time could probably be better spent on someone he always thought deserved it.

"Hey Sakura-Chan how about we-"

"Hey Sasuke can you walk with me home please?" Sakura said sweetly while attempting to latch herself onto the arm of the quiet Uchiha.

Naruto's smile dropped as he watched Sasuke and Sakura walking down the street together. His vibrant ocean blue eyes dropped to the ground as he watched his two teammates continue along the street until they were out of sight. He couldn't hear how Sasuke had responded, or if Sakura had been ignored or shunned off by the young Uchiha. He couldn't hear the sounds floating away from the nearby market streets, or the laughter that was drifting from the children's park a house away. He couldn't hear anything at all. Naruto's eyes just continued to hang down to ground while he stood lost in his thoughts wondering why she never acknowledged him.

"Why was it always like this?" Thought Naruto solemnly to himself as he turned around and began to drag his legs slowly in the direction of his apartment, "Why is it always the same?"

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