Don't expect me to update as quick as I have for the next chapter. This one really just kind of bit me, and I went with it. Now, onto the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...or the real concept behind this story. I do own the story itself, so that should count for something!...right?

Word of Honor

Chapter 2: Dawning Realizations

Iruka slowly made his way to the Hokage Tower, sighing as he did so. While he had the day off from Academy duties, he part-timed at the Hokage Tower to earn a little extra pay. Most other people avoided the Tower, knowing that it was a very bad idea to aggravate the Hokage. For Iruka, his need to feed his wallet outweighed that fear. After all, he was feeding Naruto part-time.

Ascending the stairs, he knocked gently on the Hokage's door. "Hokage-sama?"

There was a small bit of noise from the other side before he got the okay to enter. Poking his head in hesitantly, he was greeted with a small smile. "Ah Iruka. It's good to see you. Please, come in."

Iruka did so slowly, knowing that he needed to treed carefully. "How are you today Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi shrugged. "It's been quiet today. Peaceful for the most part."

Iruka nodded, understanding what the Hokage meant quite clearly. "Well then, I hope your day remains that way."

Sarutobi nodded, taking a slow drag on his pipe. There wasn't any day better than today for him, and he was going to get all the enjoyment as he possibly could from it. Like take pleasure in others misfortunes.

"So Iruka, I heard you have my grandson in your class now."

Iruka's face scrunched up in exasperation as he remembered his dealings with the Hokage's grandson. "Yes, I do Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi leaned forward in his seat, a small smile on his face. "And how has he been?"

Taking a deep breath, Iruka slowly spoke. "He's a good student, for the most part. Every now and then he pulls a prank. It's like having Naruto back in the classroom again."

Sarutobi chuckled at that. "Yes, I imagine it would feel like that. He has taken a certain shine to Naruto and his antics. He's often referred to Naruto as his 'Boss' and his 'rival for Hokage' among other things. It's actually been rather humorous to hear him going off on how he plans on showing him just how powerful he's become." A small rosy hue crossed his face as a certain memory came to mind. "He's also become quite proficient at using the Oiroke no Jutsu (Centerfold Technique)."

If the blush were any indication, Iruka remembered the technique only too well. "I guess I should be glad he hasn't unleashed it at the Academy yet. It would be really bad to spread that particular technique to our impressionable youth."

Sarutobi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not to sure that it hasn't already. Konohamaru has a pair of friends that he spends a lot of time with. It's quite possible that he's taught them as well."

Iruka paled at this, unsure of just how bad it could be if those three unleashed said jutsu on his unsuspecting class. If the other girls didn't kill the boy, the clan's would surely bring their wrath upon him, since the technique would look like it was spreading from the Academy. More specifically from him. "I hope he doesn't use it until after the Academy. I thought I'd finally gotten the Clan Heads off my back when Naruto left the Academy."

Sarutobi nodded as a large smile crossed his face. "It's always nice to hear that he's made such lasting connections with the Clan Heads. Being remembered by such important people will be a boon should he ever become strong enough to take over my position as Hokage."

Iruka nodded slowly. "That's one way of looking at it. Of course, he'll have to make other connections too. And get off his 'ramen only' diet."

As he said that, Iruka remembered the conversation he'd had with Naruto. Rubbing his hands together, he chuckled nervously. "Speaking of our favorite troublemaker, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Sarutobi sighed, taking another long drag on his pipe. This was bound to be something he didn't want to deal with, but would like to have out of the way for later. "Alright, let's hear it."

"Well, I think Naruto's having some difficulty with the secret he was told when he graduated." Iruka said slowly, not wanting to break the Sandaime's law concerning said subject in front of the man himself.

For his part, Sarutobi didn't outwardly react to the subject. "Really? He seems to have kept quiet thus far about the subject. Of course, I suppose if he really has no one to talk to about it besides the two of us, the past few months in Nami no Kuni would have been stressful to him."

Iruka nodded. "I agree Hokage-sama. However, I don't know what to do about it. He needs someone to talk to, but this is a serious matter that he can't just freely tell anyone." He grimaced as he thought of the pained look on Naruto's face when he'd asked the question. "This secret has made him grow up so fast."

Sarutobi sighed, understanding the underlying thoughts of the man. "I'm sure he'll be fine." Noting the still stressed expression on Iruka's face, he gave him a disarming smile. "If it means that much to you, I'll have Kakashi talk to him about it. After all, Kakashi has had experience with something similar."

Iruka nodded, understanding that Kakashi would understand certain parts of it that other people wouldn't. "Thank you Hokage-sama." He glanced out the window, a small smirk sliding onto his face. "I wonder what he'll get you for your birthday."

A coughing sputter caught Iruka's attention and made him turn to a sudden red faced Sarutobi. "What *cough* what did you say?"

Iruka blinked at the sight of the Hokage in such obvious distress, unsure of what to make of it. "Um, I was just wondering what Naruto was going to get you for your birthday." Noticing the red in his face turn pale rather rapidly, Iruka felt a shiver run down his spine. "You…you've never told him it's your birthday today…have you?"

Sarutobi slowly shook his head from side to side. They'd seen what kind of gifts Naruto had given Iruka on his birthday, the Oiroke no Jutsu being one of those gifts at one point. Both men turned their eyes to the window, awaiting the pandemonium that was bound to come from Naruto's good natured attempt at giving his jiji a birthday present.

-xxxxx-

If one were to describe Naruto, tactical would not be one of the words used. Mischievous, overly energetic, and an idiot would be a few, but not tactical. Most people didn't even want to believe that he knew the first thing about strategy and the different branches that would eventually develop in combat.

However, this was a perfect way to describe his pranks. He thought of almost everything; the materials that he had or could get, the shinobi that could potentially get in the way, his 'way out', and he even when so far as to take how long it took to get it done into account. He couldn't do this in the field, due to a certain lack of instructors who were capable of turn harmless pranks into hardened battle strategies, though he had shown that he could pull of an on the spot strategy during the mission to Nami no Kuni.

Which was why he was in a particularly peculiar position at the moment. You see, he had just recently heard that it was the Sandaime's birthday. He knew that while he didn't have much, nearly everything he owned had come from the man, and even now he continued to help take care of him. As such, he wanted to make up for all the years he missed, and the best present he could think of was painting the Hokage's Monument with big letters that would read 'Happy Birthday Hokage-jiji'. The only problem?

His brain was broken.

After meeting Iruka, he'd rushed back to his apartment, locked the door, and pulled out some plans. He had so many ideas, all of which would be helped along if he used his Kage Bunshin no jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique). As soon as he began his plotting, he'd either forget what he was doing or found himself scratching his head at the suddenly cryptic plans he'd used to first paint the Hokage's Monument.

Which was why he figured his brain was broken. After all, this hadn't happened before, and he was getting frustrated.

"Damn it, what's wrong with me?" He shouted to no one in particular as he took a step back from looking at his plans.

Pacing back and forth in front of the table that he'd laid the paper on, he tried to wrap his mind around this mystery. He knew he was rusty at pranks due to his time being filled with missions and training. He wasn't just some Academy student anymore, and he had to step up his training if he wanted to become Hokage. Heck, he had to step it up if he wanted to beat Sasuke.

"Ah! I remember now, I was going to go train!" Naruto shouted, his mind drifting to the new thought. Turning to run back to his room to get more 'training ready' clothes, he noticed the paper on the table. "Wait…damn it!"

He scowled at the paper. He'd somehow gotten sidetracked from trying to figure out why he couldn't plan his prank! That wouldn't do; this was a very important prank for a very important person. It wasn't like he could put it off for some other day and do it then. It would be unexpected, but rather besides the point.

As Naruto thought along that line of thought, he found plans forming. Old plans, new plans, revised plans all formed in moments. Instead of rubbing his hands deviously as he normally would have, he just stared ahead into space as the hamster in his head began to run in its wheel.

"That would work, but I'd have to do it tomorrow." Naruto muttered, thinking of a few different pranks at the same time. Discarding them, he moved onto more immediate plans that he could work with. This continued for nearly ten minutes before he finally had to give up. All of the good plans he could come up with took to long, and would have to be done either the next day, or the day after. Sitting back down in front of his 'Paint the Monument' plans, he sighed. "Why can't I pull this off today? What's wrong with me?"

"Promise me no pranks today Naruto!"

Naruto blinked at the memory of the promise. He'd almost forgotten about the promise, what with him trying to forget about said promise and get the Hokage a birthday present by pulling a great prank. It was just a promise, but for some reason, it felt different. Kind of like his promise to Sakura had felt, only less painful.

Biting his lip, he slowly sat back down. This was not something that he ever remembered happening to him, especially since this was unlike any feeling he had ever experienced before. Not only that, but it had happened twice now.

Remembering what he'd been told by Iruka at Ichiraku, he rolled the thought around in his head. "So…this is 'maturity'?" Naruto muttered. It made sense to him. Of course, he didn't really understand what Iruka had meant when he'd said it was a part of growing up either. It was probably one of those things that they taught at the Academy and that he missed because he skipped that day.

Silently he muttered that he would try and pay more attention to the lessons people taught him. He bet that all this basic stuff that he should have learned early on was going to keep haunting him until the day he died. Or course, this also meant that for the time being, he had no gift to give to the Hokage.

Groaning in mental agony, he finally gave up on the giant prank. The constant mind blanking was making him frustrated, and since it was a day off, he wanted to go out and train. But that wasn't going to happen until he got this monkey off his back.

"Monkey." He said with a chuckle at the terrible joke.

Pushing the thought aside for later, he thought of other things he could possibly get the Hokage for his birthday. Since the prank was out, at least for today, there wasn't a lot that he knew that other people got each other for their birthdays. This would be the first birthday present that he'd be getting anyone. The only present that he'd ever gotten from someone other than the Hokage…

Naruto looked over to his dresser, the old gift now on his mind. Opening the top drawer, he stared down at a pair of green goggles that rested in its own little place in the drawer. Slowly, almost in a reverent manner, he took the goggles from their place.

The goggles had come in an unmarked package on his birthday two years ago. He'd actually been about to throw it out, thinking someone had just dropped some junk in front of his door by accident. The only thing that had stopped him was the little tag that was on it that said it was to him. When he'd thanked the Hokage the next day, and found out it wasn't from him, he'd found a lot more value to them. There was someone out there who'd given them to him, and that gave it all the more value to him.

"I've got it!" Naruto said, the tension slipping away to be replaced by excitement. "Now, I just have to find something awesome to give to Hokage-jiji!"

Rushing to the door, he stumbled briefly as he realized he still had the goggles in his hand. Gripping them lightly he quickly went back to place them back in his dresser.

"…I'll figure out who gave me these." He said, his fingers brushing against the tag that had moved from underneath the goggles when he'd moved it. It had been a while since he'd seen it, yet he still vividly remembered the flowing handwriting on the card.

Returning the goggle to their resting place, he spun back to the door and headed out. He had a present to find.

-xxxxx-

Kakashi was having a rather amusing day. After meeting with his team and messing with their heads, he'd headed off to meet with the woman he'd asked to meet him at a nearby bar earlier. It was slow going for their 'relationship' seeing as nothing had come of it yet, but that didn't bother him. He'd learned to discipline himself in Anbu, and patience was something that he'd come to pride himself on. This trait was particularly important to develop for hunter-nin or assassins, which were two of the main sub-divisions he ran during his time as Anbu Captain.

Most people thought that this particular discipline was thanks mostly to the little orange book that he read publicly on a daily basis. This was actually not true. After all, a book and his hand was no substitute for the real deal, and he didn't want to be known as one of those closet perv's who actually did that. No, he had better reasons for reading it…mostly.

However, said book was not out at them moment. He had been asked to lunch by two other recent jonin, Kurenai and Asuma. According to what he'd heard, they met on occasion to have lunch and swap notes on how they were training their students and they tried to figure out how to make their methods more efficient. Kakashi just wanted to hear for himself what these methods were.

The best part of this was that he was only a half hour late. Their reaction to his arrival was almost more amusing than his teams reaction to him being late. Almost.

"You're early?" Asuma asked, his eye wide and somewhat panicked as his eyes darted about. From his expression, he obviously was expecting the world to end or something of the like.
Kakashi smiled at them. "Ah, I fell off the road of life and somehow wound up in the neighborhood and figured I'd see what it felt like to be early." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It feels the same really. I might have to mix it up every now and then just for kicks."

Kurenai, for the most part, had a far more calm expression. "Thank you for coming Kakashi-san. Please, have a seat."

Shrugging nonchalantly, he sat in the seat next to Asuma. "So, what were you going to talk about today?"

Asuma and Kurenai gave each other a look, as though trying to convey some secret message he was not meant to know about. He sighed as he realized that he really didn't know whatever they knew, which meant that this was appearing eerily similar to an infiltration mission. Both of the other jonin seemed to have recognized this as well, and were doing their best to think of things to talk about which wouldn't tell him anything important.

Like he didn't already know; he just wanted to see what they came up with.

"Well, we've really been working on their teamwork." Asuma said casually.

'Ah, so that's how they're going to do it.' Kakashi thought. His smile fell slightly as he thought of his own team. He'd done more than a few teamwork training exercises, but overall they still had a lot that they could work on. Especially in their individual skills.

"They've got a lot of raw talent for kids their age, but they still need refining." Kurenai said, taking over where Asuma had left off. "Their clans are very helpful for their individual techniques, but if they don't work well with each other than those will be pointless in the field."

Kakashi winced inwardly at this. "Yes, I imagine that they would."

An uncomfortable silence came between the three jonin. It was broken shortly after as Asuma's and Kurenai's food came. "So Kakashi, how are your kids coming."

"Pretty good." Kakashi said, slowly rolling a glass of water the waitress had been kind enough to leave for him. "Overall, their skills need work, but their teamwork is more difficult to train."

Asuma raised an eyebrow at this statement. "Oh really? And why's that?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Because Naruto's on the team."

Both jonin looked confused at that, which just made Kakashi chuckled more. After seeing just how Naruto's spontaneous energy was capable of bringing up on the fly, preplanned formations felt somewhat redundant. Naruto, for all the IQ of an idiot, was more capable of figuring out how to get out of sticky situations than some Anbu recruits he'd trained with. If he'd used the same situation with one of the recruits, against an enemy who was vastly stronger than they were, they'd have listened to what he'd said and run away. He'd actually given the situation to his successor, Tenzou, and had him run it once while he watched. They'd come up with several plans, most of which involved high leveled jutsu that became too overcomplicated and wound up blowing up in their faces when it didn't work. Not one of them thought to simply use the basic Henge to do what Naruto did. There would have been some differences between the attempts, but that was to be expected. All in all, it was more proof of Naruto's latent potential.

Asuma shrugged, knowing they weren't going to get any more out of Kakashi. "Well, I guess that's your problem then." Asuma rolled his cigarette in his mouth, a rather smug grin on his face. "Besides, if our teams were to go up against one another, the Ino-Shika-Cho combo would be more than enough to take on any sort of formations you could come up with beforehand."

Kurenai gave Asuma a flat look. "The Ino-Shika-Cho is a rather well known in the shinobi world. What is it that make it so great?"

Asuma chuckled. "The teamwork of the three clans is known, yes, but with the different techniques they have and teach the combos are capable of changing to accommodate different situations. With the Nara brains, Akimichi brawn, and Yamanaka mind techniques, no team could take them on and win if they were unprepared."

Kakashi gave them a firm look, a mischievous twinkle hidden within it. "Is that so? Tell me, what are your plans for the upcoming Chunin Exams?"

-xxxxx-

Ino was having a really off day. She had the day off from training and there weren't any missions that her team had to do, so she was stuck working in her families flower shop to pass the time. She'd thought that when she'd become a shinobi she'd be able to be out of doing demeaning chores. In fact, she still had to do chores when she was doing most missions. It was bad enough doing them at home, but having to do them for someone else was just demeaning.

If it weren't for the fact that civilians actually could do most of their work on their own, she was certain there would be a lot more work for her to do. She'd actually asked her dad about it when she'd become frustrated by a babysitting job. According him, civilians actually did do most of their own stuff, they just had an overflow of jobs that they couldn't get done with the time they had. Their work kept the village afloat during war as they were able to supply the shinobi with weapons or other items when their normal routes may have been cut off. It made her more grateful for the things the civilians did; it didn't make her complain less, she was just more grateful.
Her only solace in the job was that she actually liked working in the flower shop. It was something to bring out the social butterfly in her, and was one of those things that she could do. Because she was good at it, it brought a certain peace of mind to her. After all, while Sakura was on Sasuke's team, Ino had the practical skill set to back up her claim on Sasuke. Sakura was all brain. Sasuke wasn't looking for someone like that.

She sighed, staring into space as she looked around the shop. There were usually more people who came into the shop, but today was rather slow. Which meant she had a lot more free time than she really knew what to do with which drove her crazy.

Just as she was about to snap, the bell attached to the door rang as someone entered. Turning with a grin, she began to say the store's greeting before she realized who it was. "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower – Naruto!"

Naruto glanced around nervously, his head snapping up as he heard Ino say his name. "Ino? What are you doing here?"

"My family owns this place." Ino said, her chipper mood increasing. "So, how can I help you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uh, I was looking to get Hokage-jiji a gift since it's his birthday, but I didn't know what to get him."

"And you decided to get him…flowers?" Ino asked skeptically. It didn't sound like the sort of gift Naruto would get someone, or that the Sandaime would want for a gift.

Naruto looked down, shuffling his feet. "Well, I've seen other people flowers for each other, and they usually look really happy when they get flowers. So I figured Hokage-jiji would like it too."

Ino giggled at that. "Naruto, guys usually get flowers for girls. You know, to impress them?"

Naruto turned his gaze to some of the flowers. "Really? But flowers are nice. Why wouldn't Hokage-jiji like flowers?"

"Because they're supposed to be girly." Ino said offhandedly. She knew her father enjoyed the shop just as much as she did, but for the fact that it gave him something to do when he wasn't out drinking with Shikaku and Choza. That made him an exception.

Naruto on the other hand, had never been told this before. "Really? I always thought that gardening and flower arranging was supposed to be some secret skill girls learned to give them an edge since they didn't have taijutsu sparring until third year. I actually wanted to try sneaking into the class to see what the big deal was." He grinned impishly. "Actually, I did try once. It didn't go so well."

"Really?" Ino said, her inner gossip quickly surfacing and demanding details. "What happened?"

"Well, I tried to use a Henge to turn into a girl, but when one of the other girls poked me I turned back into a guy." Naruto said, scratching his cheek at the memory. "The teacher was so mad, she gave me detention and had me clean the erasers. I got back at her good though. She learned to not mess with the great Uzumaki Naruto!"

Ino frowned at this story. She had never missed a day of the Academy, constantly vigilant in making sure that Sakura didn't get one over her in getting close to Sasuke. She did however, remember the time when her teacher came in, panting and with lime green paint in her hair. "So that's why she had paint in her hair."

Naruto nodded. "Yup. It took me a bit, but I eventually got it set it up just right an nailed her on her way to the Academy. It was pretty funny, right Ino? …Ino?"

Ino didn't answer the question right away, an interesting thought having taken root. Naruto was on Sasuke's and Sakura's team. Sakura was her rival for Sasuke's affection, the way Sasuke was Naruto's unwilling rival for Sakura's affection. Sakura had gotten onto Sasuke's team due to lucky pickings, which meant that Ino would normally have little to no chance of getting her shot at Sasuke. But if she had some inside help, it could be possible.

"Naruto, could you help me with something?" Ino asked as innocently as she could.

"Uh, sure. What's up?" Naruto asked, not feinting innocence in the slightest.

Ino grinned, as she slid behind the counter. "Well, I needed some help…getting some info on Sasuke-kun."

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Huh? What do you want to know about him?"

Ino shrugged. "Anything and everything you could get for me. If you want, I'll help you get that date with Sakura you've always wanted."

Normally, this would have made Naruto ecstatic, and jump at the opportunity. With the strange happenings of him being unable to break his promise to her though, he had some things to think over before throwing himself at Sakura again. "Uh, thanks Ino, but I'll pass on that."

Ino's eye widened in shock. 'Has Naruto given up on Forehead? No way, he's been star struck since the Academy! This…this is big! How am I supposed to get him to tell me what he knows about Sasuke-kun now?'

Naruto glanced around the room again, oblivious to Ino's thoughts. "I could use some help getting Hokage-jiji a gift though." He said, snapping Ino out of her thoughts. Noticing her a bewildered look, he explained. "I haven't gotten a present for anyone's birthday before, and I wanted to make it up to Hokage-jiji, since he's done so much for me."

Ino nodded, finding that this was probably an even better deal than something she couldn't really promise. "Okay. Well, how about we'll get the gift today, and we'll meet the day after tomorrow."

"Why not tomorrow? I don't have all that much to do, and the missions don't take all that long anymore." Naruto asked.

"Because I have team practice most of the day tomorrow." Ino said, rolling her eyes at what she'd said. "Well, more like we practice for a bit, then Asuma-sensei takes Shikamaru aside to play shogi for the rest of the time while Choji sits around and eats chips. I swear, I'm the only who takes our training seriously."

"Uh, okay?" Naruto had no idea what to say to that, and made the smart choice of not leaping into dangerous waters. Rocking back on his heels, he returned to looking around the shop. "So, can we get started? Hokage-jiji's not getting any younger now!"

Ino stared at Naruto, unable to believe the audacity of his statement, while at the same time trying not to laugh at how true it was. She almost felt bad about taking advantage of Naruto like this, but it wasn't like Naruto wasn't getting anything out of it. And if it got her one step closer to Sasuke, she was all for it.

"Well then, we don't want that to happen. Let's get to work." Ino said, nodding vigorously. Today was a great day for her; out of the blue walked a gold mine that would get her that much closer to her Sasuke-kun. It was like a dream come true.

And she planned on making her dream a reality.

AN: Alright, now Naruto's starting to figure it out. He's no genius, so making him go slow in this has a point. Of course, when I explain how the promise thing works, I'm sure it'll be scientifically redundant, but full of awesome!

Also, the whole 'goggles were a gift from someone *hint hint*' scene. I love reading well-written stories where the goggles are from someone other than Iruka or the Hokage. Mostly because the goggles are only seen in Chapter/Episode 1 of the Manga/Anime, which means that using them to build up the NaruHina relationship is definitely possible. Naruto didn't promise anything on the goggles yet, but I may do it later.

The whole flower shop scene was fun to write. I could totally see Naruto thinking that people gave each other flowers on their birthday. Especially since he thought that 'having the right curves' (in the anime) meant finding a watermelon to eat. It's pure, innocent Naruto.

Well, just a quick preview of next chapter's title: Words to Regret. A prequel to the downfall of this story's NaruIno possibility.

Thank you to all you who have reviewed so far, and to the watchers, go ahead and leave a little something too! I don't bite.