A/N: Well here is the final promised story I made. This one actually took less planning than the three before it did, which was slightly surprising for me. So I hope you all enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing!


Ino

The girl was not happy. No, not happy nor unhappy could describe the way she was feeling at the moment. She was completely and utterly pissed off. Things had not gone the way they were supposed to. This was not the agreement she had made with all the adults.

Flashback

Iruka stood in front of the class reading off the list of names and what teams they were assigned to. Ino, like anyone else whose name had yet to be called, fantasizing about the team she would have. She already knew one person who would be on her team. After begging the Hokage, Iruka, and her parents, she finally got all four to agree to having her on the team with the boy she wanted. Who the other boy that would be on her team was she didn't know nor really care. As long as things go the way they're supposed to I'll be fine with anyone else.

Iruka cleared his throat and looked at the list in his hand. "Alright now for the members of Team Seven. They are Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto..."

Ino grimaced slightly as the two boys glared in each other's direction. Well, I didn't think that the other guy would be him, but I guess it can work. As long as those two aren't constantly at each other's throat everything will be just fine. Ino was smiling to herself when she heard Sakura give a small uncertain yell of happiness. "Wait, what happened?"

Sakura turned to Ino as her uncertain smile became one of triumph. "Hah Ino-bunta! I'm on a team Sasuke-kun, and you aren't. I may have to deal with Naruto's annoying antics, but it will so be worth the children we'll have."

Ino blinked as she stared at the grinning pink haired girl. Over and over she played the girl's words in head. The entire time her face becoming a shade darker. Her eyes narrowed into a glare that slowly turned across the room to Iruka who was focusing intently on his clipboard.

As he began reading off the members of Team Eight, Ino stood from her seat and walked slowly yet deliberately out of her row and down the steps towards Iruka. Iruka sighed as he placed down his bored. "With Team Nine still in rotation, I'll move on to the last team, Team Ten. The members are Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and..." Iruka took a short breath as he looked down apologetically at Ino, "...and Yamanaka Ino. Your team's sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

Everyone looked at Ino as she stood before their teacher with her head held down and body trembling every few seconds. They, unlike Iruka, did not understand why she was reacting the way she was. It left all of them with a look of curiosity and confusion on their faces. Complete indifference on the face of the boy wonder.

After glaring at the floor for what seemed like days Ino turned and walked out of the room. Walking out into the hallway, she started to lightly jog. Once she was clear of the entire school ground, she started running.

Flashback End

Pushing open the door to the Hokage's office, Ino found herself looking dead at her parents and the Hokage. She knew the two of them would be there waiting for her. How did she know that the two of them would be there? They knew how she would react to not getting what she was promised, and knew where she would go. Same as she knew Shikamaru was right behind her looking around trying to figure out what was going on. She just knew them.

"Shikamaru, can you you wait outside for a moment please," the Hokage asked him gently as he smiled at him.

Shikamaru shook his head. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, I think it's best that I stay here." He pointed down at Ino's shadow which was now connected to his. "I might not know what's going on here, but leaving isn't a good idea no matter how troublesome staying could be." After a moment the Hokage nodded and Shikamaru closed the door as privacy seals automatically activated.

"Why," Ino asked after clenching her fist. "You promised me that we would be on a team together. Not make another one of your glorified clan alliance teams and put him on a team with that fucking pink headed bitch and that bastard."

Ino's mother, Sasomi, frowned at her. "Ino, that language is uncalled for. The two might not be the best of people, but that doesn't mean anything."

Ino's father, Inoichi, agreed with his wife. "Now look, things don't always going according to plan princess. We had full intentions of putting you two on the same team..."

Ino childishly stomped her foot down, easily breaking free of a good portion of Shikamaru's Shadow Possession to his complete surprise. "Then fucking do it!" she yelled. "What is keeping me from having what I want!? What in all honesty I deserve!"

"...something came up princess," Inoichi sighed.

"What? What could have possibly come up that stopped me from being with him? Did you decide you couldn't disappoint your Kami forsaken boyfriends in the Nara and Akimichi Clans!?"

Inoichi grabbed his wife's arm as she went to stand. "Young lady you better remember who your parents are! We did not raise you to speak to us like that."

Ino glared at the women as her body began to shake. "I remember who my parents are Yamanaka-san, and I sure as hell wish they had raised me instead of you two." Sasomi and Inoichi gasped in hurt as Shikamaru's eyes widened at the implication of her words. "Now what the hell was it?"

"It was the truth Ino-san," the Hokage said, dropping the honorific he usually used with children of the village. "The truth is what made you request impossible from the very start."

Ino scratched her head furiously as she let out a frustrated growl. "So you fucking lied to me!? You gave me hope that wasn't even really ever there and let me believe in it." Suddenly breaking completely free of Shikamaru's Shadow Possession, the platinum blond punched the window overlooking the village.

"Temper," Sasomi said weakly as she looked at the ground. The pain in her face was clearly evident.

"Fuck you," Ino hissed.

Inoichi glared at the girl before him intently. "It is one thing to insult me and my friends, but another to verbally attack my wife."

"If you call that a verbal attack then boy are you in for a big surprise," Ino snorted. Why am I even still here? I should be stomping away right now.

Shikamaru sensing the light lull in the conversation interjected. "This is probably going to be even more troublesome, but could someone explain to me what is going on? I mean why can't Ino be on a team with Sasuke? And what does she mean..." The black haired boy was cut short as the young girl at the window began laughing.

"You think... this is about that selfish bastard Sasuke," Ino laughed. "This has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with my twin brother!"

"Twin brother," Shikamaru questioned. "Ino you were born an only child."

"No I was born the oldest of two twins. When I was born I was put off to the side as my brother was being delivered. Something happened and we ended up orphaned and separated." Ino closed her eyes as tears welded in them. "I just wanted to be with my brother you see, but they just won't let me."

Shikamaru thought over what Ino had said. She obviously was not a Yamanaka like he was raised to believe, and it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that she was talking about Naruto when she referred to her brother. Ino seemed to know enough to raise hell over the team placements, and he wondered if there was even more to it.

The Hokage sighed. He looked at the saddened couple to his left, the enraged girl and the somewhat enlightened boy before him. The entire situation was a sad one that he just wanted to end. "Ino-san listen. Do to you and Naruto's condition and parentage, it is best not for you two to be together this early in your life. Shikamaru-kun I would ask that you not reveal anything that you heard in this room. Now I want the both of you to go back to the academy to meet with your instructor do you understand?"

Shikamaru nodded as he pulled on Ino's arm. He just wants me out of his face, she thought. Well this isn't over you old fart. Not by a long shot. Naruto is my brother and I'll be damned if you keep me from him any longer. Don't you think it's time we were united with our other halves?

A dark voice grunted in the back of Ino's mind. "Of course, and the sooner the better."

Naruto/?

The spiky haired blond was unsure of how he should feel. He was ecstatic to finally have become a shinobi of the village like he had always wanted to be. On the other hand he was stuck on the same team as the ever so pampered Sasuke. Having his crush Sakura on his team really made him happy. Then again they shared a team with her crush Sasuke. Two pros and two cons, with both cons being Sasuke related.

Man, why couldn't I get someone else to be on my team. Shifting his gaze around the room, he noticed Sakura was practically sitting in the dark haired boy's lap to get his attention. It made Naruto sick to watch. This might not be as great as I thought it would be.

"Naruto!" An eraser block smashed into blonde's face knocking out of his seat. "Don't you glare at my Sasuke-kun," Sakura screeched in an annoyed tone.

"But Sakuwa-can!" Naruto whined as he sat up on one elbow holding his nose. "The gu' is just begging for it! E's mucing on to ouw team!"

"Our team," Sakura snorted, "you're the add on here!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "Will the two of you shut up. I'm trying to concentrate." Sakura gasped before turning away from Naruto, giving him a quick glare, to watch Sasuke think.

What does she see in him? Naruto thought as he got back into his chair rubbing his nose. The guy has a pole so far stuck up his ass it can't even start to be funny! What makes him so damn popular?

"Maybe it's the fact that all the girls that like him are airheads Naru-chan," a soft voice said in Naruto's mind.

Kyūbi? he thought.

*sigh* "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not the fox Naru-chan?"

The boy mentally slapped his head. Oh right. Sorry Miko-chan. I just keep expecting the Kyūbi to try and whisper evil things to me.

"It's alright. The Kyūbi really isn't all that pleasant, so that makes sense, but you learn to get used to him and his evil laziness."

Wait, even his laziness is evil?

"Uh, no," the Miko said. "Anyways that's not what this is about. What do you see in that girl Naru-chan? It makes no sense to me."

You just don't understand Miko-chan...

..."That's what I said."

...what a great girl she is, Naruto thought over Miko. She is also really pretty you know. It may not seem like it now, but I know we are going to be one awesome couple in the future.

..."You know, sometimes I feel disappointed in you Naru-chan. That girl is not pretty. She isn't ugly, but she is not pretty. I mean, there are way more prettier girls in your class like that Hyuga girl and Ino-chan."

Naruto scrunched up his face. Ugh, Ino? I don't know what you like about that bitch...

"Don't you DARE call her a bitch again Naruto! You may not know it, but you will learn to respect her soon enough!" Miko's voice had gained an edge she rarely used and it deflated the boy slightly.

Right Miko-chan, I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me. Silence met Naruto in his mind and he sighed. He could easily remember the day he found out she was in his head.

Flashback

Naruto was running as fast as he could to avoid the angry store owner and his two employees. He had accidentally knocked down there fresh fruit stand and bruised most of their bananas, and no one in Konoha likes a bruised banana. So of course they found it fit to make him pay.

They had been chasing him for the better part of an hour, and it sounded like they were only getting angrier. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" the young child yelled back in sadness.

"Don't you dare lie you Demon Brat! I'll ringing you neck for that too when I get my hands on you!" The store owner's workers cheered in their agreements as they began to pick up the pace.

Naruto turned a corner and almost stopped in his tracks. Only his sense of danger continued to propel him forward. He was now in a part of the village he rarely visited, so he knew the area like he knew chakra control at his age. Not a single bit.

Oh man. Oh man. Oh man, Oh man, Oh man! This is bad! I don't know where to go! Feeling uncertain, Naruto was considering turning around.

"Hey, I can help you if you want," a soft voice from nowhere said.

"Huh? Who's there?" Naruto called as he started to slow down.

"Don't stop running they'll catch you! Look I know my way around this place. Just keep running straight until you reach a river okay."

Naruto hesitated only a second before doing as he was told. "Who are you and why are you helping me?"

"Naru-chan, you can call me... Miko. As for why I'm helping you, it is because you don't deserve what those people are trying to do to you." A smile formed on Naruto's face. He felt like there was another person who understood him now. "Now once you reach the river you need to..."

Flashback End

Since then Miko had always been with him. The only time she would leave is when he was going to sleep. That and when she felt especially unhappy with him. The first time she did it didn't bother him since he wasn't yet used to her, but after a while her absence began to make him uncomfortable.

He became familiar with her presence in his mind. Hearing her voice always made him feel better at even the darkest of moments, so when she left he felt more alone than usual. He had friends, but none like her. She was an extremely special friend he never wanted to lose.

Sighing, Naruto looked around again. Everyone else had already left with their team's sensei hours ago. He, Sakura, and Sasuke were the only ones left in the entire room. "Ah, come on. Where could our sensei be at already!?"

Naruto's new teammates each threw him a glare just as the door to the room began to open. They looked to see a man with silver hair that told gravity to go fuck itself. As he turned to look at them they noticed that his forehead protector was worn his right eye.

The man sighed. "My first impression of you three is... I hate all of you. Meet me on the roof of the school in five minutes or go home and forget about being a shinobi of this village." He quickly shunshined away.

"Well hi to you too," Naruto mumbled as he stood up and ran off. Jumping out a window, he climbed a ladder he set on the back side of the school for emergency reasons.

"Hm, a predetermined way up here," the man said without looking at Naruto as he stared down at a little yellow book. "A nice way of reaching you destination quickly. Sit Uzumaki-san."

Naruto frowned as he sat across from his sensei and glared at him. Geez, this guy shows up late and acts like he was the one that was kept waiting. I should've set a trap for this guy. He looks like he could be worse than Sasuke.

Like thinking his name summoned the devil, Sasuke suddenly appeared next to Naruto with Sakura trailing slightly behind him. He sent a small surprised glare towards the blond boy before taking his seat next to him with Sakura settling in between them.

The man closed his book and looked up at his students. "Alright kids, how about we all get to know each other," he said with a light bout a cheer. "We are going to tell each other our names, likes, hobbies, dislikes, dreams, and goals."

Sakura raised her hand. "Sensei can you go first so that we can understand what to do?"

"Top kunoichi of her fucking class my ass! How hard is it to answer that shit IN that order!" Miko's sudden return and yelling made Naruto flinch slight.

Ah Miko-chan don't do that! Miko snorted in his mind.

The silver haired man sighed as he had a thought process slightly similar to that of Miko's. "Alright, I guess I will begin then. My name his Hatake Kakashi. I have many likes with no hobbies and many dislikes. My dreams are none of your business. As for my goals, I guess I never really had time to set them. Now you go pinky."

What? All we learned was his name! Naruto whined. Silence answered his whine. I guess she only came back to insult Sakura-chan then.

Forcing a small smile past a frown, Sakura looked at Kakashi. "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are...," looks at Sasuke and giggles while blushing, "my hobbies are..." looks at Sasuke again inwardly squeals before suddenly becoming serious, "and I dislike Naruto-baka!" Naruto lowered his head. "My dreams and goals are..."

Kakashi quickly put up his hands to stop the approaching squeal. "I think we all get Sakura. That's enough."

Man, was that really called for? What have I done to her, Naruto thought. A slight growl of displeasure in his mind made his eyes widen as he quickly started thinking about ramen. A growling Miko usually meant incoming rants.

"Alright your turn Mr. Moody," Kakashi said motioning to Sasuke.

Sasuke glared over his hands at his sensei. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There is nothing I like and I have no hobbies. There are many things I dislike and I have no dreams. I have only one goal and that is to kill a certain someone." Sakura looked at Sasuke with stars in her eyes, while Naruto rolled his eyes and Kakashi narrowed his.

"I see," he mushed. "Fine then, your turn blondy."

Naruto smiled and shifted his forehead protector. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, training, and my friends. My hobbies are training and eating ramen. I dislike the three minutes it takes to make instant ramen, and people whojudge others before getting to actually know them. My dream is to be one of the most respected shinobi in the history of the Konoha. My goal is to someday become the Hokage!"

Kakashi eye smiled at the boy as the others ignored him. "Well then, now that we all have gotten to know a little bit about each other, I want you all to go home and get a good night's rest. Tomorrow we are going to meet up and have you final exam to see if you will become Genin."

"Wait what!?" Naruto and Sakura screamed as Sasuke glared at the man. "I thought we were already Genin! What was the test in the academy for?"

"That test was to weed out the ones who didn't have the possibility of having what it takes to become a Genin. Not to become a Genin, that's the test I am going to give you. Oh don't eat breakfast or else you'll throw up. This test has a 66% failure rate and I have never passed a student. Later."

The three stunned kids looked at the spot their sensei had previously occupied as he shunshined. "Well shit," they all said or thought.

Ino

Ino and her team were walking back to their clan compounds after having gotten to know their sensei. She was deep in thought as they walked. I can't let them stop me from being with my brother. I've acted like he was nothing to me for far too long.

She clenched her right hand and bit her cheek in frustration. Just thinking about how she was denied what she rightfully deserved set her on edge. "Ino are you okay?" Choji asked as he looked back at his childhood friend uncertainly.

"Hm, oh yeah Choji I'll be fine," Ino replied. She gave a small smile to try and reassure him. Right after their team's sensei left, Shikamaru began trying to pry information out of her. She should have known that the boy would do that, but she didn't think that he would bring it up while Choji was around. While Shikamaru never got the information he was looking for, Choji ended up informed of Ino's problem. He quickly sided with her.

"Then what do you plan to do?" he asked gesturing to the large bag in her right hand that had all her clothes and feminine products in it. "I mean if you are really leaving the Yamanaka Clan then where are going to stay?"

Ino shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know yet, but there was no way I was staying there after those three lied to me the way they did. They knew how important it was. They knew how I would take it."

"How troublesome. It seems like they had a reason for it, or at least the Hokage did," Shikamaru sighed. "I mean, the Hokage isn't going to stop something from happening just because he feels like it. He's not sort of person. Maybe if we just knew why we..."

"No Shikamaru," Ino groaned. "For the last time I will not tell you. If it were only about me, I might have told you already, but this involves Naruto as well. With him not even knowing the full truth, I couldn't tell anyone without feeling like I betrayed his trust."

"What trust?" Shikamaru asked.

"The trust in fellow classmates for now. The trust in your comrades." Ino glared at Shikamaru who threw up his hands lazily.

"Alright, but still Ino, what are you going to do?" Choji asked again. "You could always stay with one of us you know."

Ino shook her head. "No, that could cause problems between the clans. I may not want anything to do with the Yamanaka's anymore, but I don't want to be the source of conflict. I'll find somewhere else to stay." But where? I still haven't thought of a place to stay. At least not one that will let me keep my virginity.

"You know you could always try a friend's house," the dark voice in Ino's mind suggested.

The only person whose parents would let me stay is Sakura's. I don't want to have anything to do with here outside of the necessary once I've told Naruto.

"Then go to Naruto. Do you think that such a boy as him would turn anyone away?"

Ino blinked before sighing. "I think I'm just gonna see if I can stay with Naruto," she said.

"You haven't even told him you two are related yet," Choji worried. "How is that supposed to work?"

"Easy," sighed Shikamaru. "Naruto is Naruto. He would never turn away someone asking him for his help. It's just not in his nature." Choji nodded in agreement to that assessment of their blond friend.

"See, now you don't have to worry. Everything is all planned out," smiled Ino.

"Yeah, but how do you plan on telling Naruto you guys are twins?" Shikamaru yawned.

Ino stopped walking as she suddenly realized something. Over all the years of planning on being beside Naruto like a true sister should, she had forgotten to think up the most essential piece. What exactly to say to the boy? A depressing air suddenly loomed about her as she glared at her ever lazy friend with one eye. "...damn you and your logical questions Shikamaru."

Naruto/Miko

Naruto pushed all the well over expired food out of his refrigerator and into the trash bag just before it. He took a small whiff of it before gagging slightly and lugging it outside to stuff into his garbage can. Maybe I should keep a trash can inside. It might be easier to slowly throw things away.

Kicking open his door he looked up at sky as he walked the few feet to the under used dumpster beside his apartment. The rain was heavily falling down from the clouds as thunder exploded through them. Every now and then he could see streaks of lightning racing across the sky.

He firmly shut the door behind him once he got back in the apartment. He had recently bought two boxes full of slightly underpriced food as he always Henged into Sasuke when he went shopping for his food. Unless it was ramen of course. That he had to do as himself.

It was as he was putting away the food that the knock on his door came. More appropriately, when the pounding of his door started. In fear Naruto quickly grabbed a kunai before moving to the sided of his door. The last time anyone had pounded on his door the way it was being now, he opened the door only to find more hell from the village.

Fighting back the memory he leaned against the wall to the side of the door. "Who is it!?" he called through the wall with his kunai at ready.

An explosion of thunder cut off the first part of what the person said, but Naruto caught the last of it. "...to! Ino! Please open the door!" a feminine voice yelled.

After considering how familiar the voice sounded, and Ino's name, Naruto slowly opened the door. He sighed when he saw Ino's practically drowned form in front of him. "H-hey," she said shakingly with a wobbly smile.

"Don't just stand there Naruto! Bring her in right now!"

Flinching at Miko's voice, Naruto grabbed Ino's arm and pulled her into the apartment before shutting the door. "You must be freezing! Here I have a few towels you can dry off with." No need to yell. I was going to let her in. I was just a little confused was all. He ran to the back room quickly to grab the towels before returning with them. "Here."

"Not fast enough obviously!"

"Thank you," Ino said as she wrapped the towels around her body.

Silently the two sat at the table in Naruto's kitchen. There was hot chocolate between them as each one waited for the other to say something. "So..." Naruto said slowly.

"So... yeah." Ino scratched the back of her head softly and sniffled.

"Yeah..." Naruto looked at the clock near his broken stove. The time read 10:37. "Look Ino, you don't have to tell me what's going on and all, but I think I really should be getting to sleep. Team meeting tomorrow and all."

"Ah, right I have that too. Where do I... um... sleep?" Ino asked.

Naruto pointed his thumb backwards. "You take the bed in the room back there. My sofa can turn into a bed, so I'll sleep on it. The bathroom is right across the hall just so you know. Night Ino." Pushing away from the table, the boy stood slowly and walked away.

Ino sat at the table for a minute before getting up and leaving the table. Walking down the hall she seemed to inspect every inch of the apartment as she moved. Suddenly she turned around and looked at Naruto pulling the bed out of the sofa. "Naruto," she said.

Naruto turned to the girl and tilted his head. "Yeah?"

She seemed to want to say something, but thought better of it and shook her head. "I'll be coming back here tomorrow, so I'll tell you later. If that's okay with you that is."

"It's okay Ino. You can keep coming here as long as you need. I can tell you need to too, so you can rely on me," Naruto said as he smiled brightly.

Ino giggled softly. "Thanks. Night... Naruto-kun."

"Night Ino." Naruto turned back to his sofa before blinking and turning back to Ino, but the hallway was empty. Did she just call me Naruto-kun? Nah, I must be imagining things.

Climbing on to the bed, Naruto settled in for a slightly uncomfortable night. I wonder what Ino wanted to tell me. It must be really important since she looked so troubled with coming back here tomorrow. Naruto's eyes slowly closed as an unfamiliar, yet recognizable, heat began to pulse through his body from his stomach.

?

A little girl walked wordlessly about a crowd as she looked for food she could steal as her dinner for the night. She knew that stealing was wrong, but she also knew that survival didn't always mean doing the right thing. It just means doing what has to be done.

Her hair was a bright blood red with all white tips, and it flowed down in curly waves to her mid back. The hair would have framed her face to look slender just like her small body did, but she wore a mask over it so no one could tell. The mask was an all-orange toad to show love for the toad the Yondaime Hokage used in his victory over the Kyūbi. Of course the fact that she wore this mask during the annual Kyūbi Festival helped keep her under the radar. Her small pink shirt and blue skirt on the other hand was just screaming for attention she was lucky not to get.

Weaving between the legs of all of the grownups, the girl observed her surroundings. This day usually presented her with more quality food than usual, but this year it seemed like people were actually eating their food rather than treating them like toys and practical joke props like usual.

She sighed as she past another couple of adults gorging on a delicious looking pie. The steam rising from it told her it was fresh out of the oven. When is someone going to waste some food?

Walking up to a table she stared at a group of teenagers joking over their food. All of them seemed like they were clan members. It was always easy to spot them, but some people liked to impersonate them sometimes, so she knew amongst all of the over active joy at the table that the Nara and Aburame look a likes were fake.

She watched them until one of the girls at the table took notice of her presence. "Hey there pup. What are you doing out here all alone hm?" The others looked and smiled at the little girl.

Lifting her mask, the girl fixed lovely cerulean blue eyes on all of them and smiled. "I'm hungry," she said simply.

Another one of the girls picked up the girl and set her in her lap. "Then why didn't you stay home and ask your mommy and daddy for some food?"

"Cause I don't have a mommy, daddy, or home." Silence greeted the little girl's words as she fixed her eyes on to the pie in front of her. "May... may I have a piece of that please?"

The boy sitting next to the girl holding the small child quickly cut a piece of the pie and put it on a paper plate. "Just let me know if you want more and I'll cut you another piece okay?"

The girl eagerly nodded as she took the plate. She immediately dived into the slice of pie like her life depended on it. Essentially it kind of did. It had almost been a full week since she last ate. She planned on making amends for that tonight.

Her thoughts raced as the teens around her talked. This pie is amazing! I wish I could have pie like this every day. That would be the loveliest thing. I would never go hungry again. Though having a life time supply of ramen would be that much better. Oh, need another slice... Mmm. These are some nice people. I wonder how much pie they are willing to feed me? Only one way to find out.

After single handedly devouring four and a half pies, the little girl sighed contently and hopped off of the girl's lap. "Wait, where are you going honey?" she asked worriedly.

The child pulled her mask back down. "Today is a special day for me. I get to go see Hokage-jiji. See you later." Waving her hand wildly, the girl took off giggling from the stunned table of teens. They were definitely unsure if they had been tricked or not.

The run to the Hokage tower was quick for the little girl as she knew every inch of the entire village. She knew secret paths way and shortcuts to blocked off areas. Hidden training grounds permitted only to Anbu and the Hokage himself. Her adventures had always taken her someplace interesting.

She flew through the front door, past a bewildered secretary, and in to the Hokages office. Not slowing done one bit, she launched herself at the old me. "Brace yourself Jiji!"

The Hokage looked up from his particularly frustrating piece of paper that refused to burn as he glared at it just in time to catch the girl. "Whoa there girl! You could have hurt yourself just then! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking you would catch me of course," the girl said cutely as she took off her mask.

The Hokage chuckled as he reached into a drawer. "Well then, lucky for you, you thought correctly." Pulling out a box he handed it to the girl. "Happy Birthday little one. How many years old does this make you now?"

"I'm five now!" the girl cheered excitedly as she took the box in one hand and held up all her fingers with the other.

"That's right, and you already speak better than those twice your age can. Who knows what else you might be better at," he joked as the girl opened the box.

She gasped as she found a silver locket in the box. It was shaped like a rain drop and had a small blue gem on the outside. She slowly pulled it out as she marveled at it. "Wow! May I open it Jiji?" she asked in a hushed tone.

Nodding, the old man watched as she opened up the locket. It had three pieces to it so that instead of the regular two pictures, it could fit four pictures in it. In the middle were pictures of two babies. One a girl, and another a boy. It's them. It's really them. On the left was a picture of herself during her last birthday. "My hair used to be so short," she giggled.

"That it did little one," the Hokage said as he turned her around to face him. "Now it's time for the most important part of your Birthday. Did you come up with a name for yourself yet?"

The little girl sighed and looked down at the locket. Every year since she learned to talk the Hokage would ask her this question. Due to a certain situation, her parents never got a chance to name her so she was left without one. The Hokage offered to name her, but she decided her independence wouldn't allow it. "Not yet Jiji, but can you call me Red for now? I don't like being called 'little one'," she said.

"Sure, now I think you should be getting home. I have work to do, and it's almost time for the wake." The little girl nodded and hopped out of the man's lap.

Placing the locket on his desk, she smiled. "One day, all three of us are going to come back for that Jiji. You just wait and see."


A/N: There it is. The first chapter of Team Uzu. I wasn't sure how to end the little gril's part of the chapter so I sorta just cut it mid thought and called that the end. Suggestions for how Ino should go about telling Naruto why she is there is welcomed or if Ino should even be the one to tell him at all. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story and review even if you didn't... you still read it. Until next time my friends.~