A/N Hey so this was pretty long. I like the way this chapter came out and I hope you all enjoy the new post. I'm uploading whenever I can so you dont have to wait too long, and please, please, please review. I base my work on it and I feel so downhearted when i dont get any. But enough with that let's get on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did then I would atleast give all of my characters last names. (Poor Ten-Ten)

A Flower's Friendship. A Fox's Loneliness.

Ch.3 "Train Me!"

Naruto knocked on Tsunade's door. As he entered he caught a glimpse of the picture Tsunade was hastily putting away. Naruto gave her a small smile.

"I miss him too Baa-chan."

"I know Naruto…I just cant help but to feel like he would have known how to handle all of this better than I would."

"Heh, your not one to sell yourself out Baa-chan."

"And your not one for small talk. So Naruto, what do you need help with?"

"You know what day it is in two months right?"

Tsunade nodded. It would be Naruto's Birthday. His eighteenth Birthday.

"Well, on that day I need to go out and try to find whatever remains of the Hidden Whirlpool Village."

Tsunade felt her heart skip a beat.

"I've wanted to go for a long time now, but I wouldn't be allowed to go out of the village without supervision except on missions. Once I'm eighteen though, I can go on trips out of the village. Please Baa-chan, I feel like this is something that I have to do."

Tsunade didn't know what to say. Naruto had every right to go look for his mothers old home. He was just looking for a little closure, a way for him to feel closer to her.

"Naruto…yes you can go. On one condition! I'll have you pick someone to go with you. You may be an adult by then but you still have plenty of enemies who would kill you if the could."Naruto smiled in delight. He thought Tsunade might partner him up with somebody regardless, but the fact that she would let him choose made him feel better. It would be an improvement over having to take a whole team with him.

"Thank you Baa-chan! You don't know what this means to me!" Naruto said bouncing around.

"Alright, calm down! I said that's enough!" Tsunade reached over the desk and pulled Naruto in close to her. "If you don't stop right now I'll give you the worst body guard I can find!"

"Ack! You cant mean-"

"That's exactly who I mean!"

A sudden flash of green spandex entered Naruto's mind and he shivered. No way was he going to get stuck with that on his trip. Naruto bowed and apologized as fast as he could, getting out of the office and heading home. It may only be noon but it had been a long day and he was already crazy tired. He decided that he'd take a nap, then see if Shikamaru was up for a game of Shogi. He'd been hooked into the game after losing countless times and he couldn't stand it. After that then he'd probably go out to Ichiraku's for dinner. He smiled as he thought of how the rest of the day would be.

"Yeah, this'll be a good start to my vacation."

Ino paced around her bedroom. Naruto's words kept coming back to her and she was driving herself mad over them. She just couldn't wrap around her head how he genuinely thought that it was his fault that she…got into such a situation.

'How…can he believe that my weakness is his fault?' She stopped in the center of her room.

"It's my own fault. I'm simply a stealth ninja, I'm not fit for combat. Everyone in my clan is a stealth ninja, well except for daddy, he's just too strong to be one. Sure I know a few medical jutsus but…"

Ino flopped on her bed unsure of how to finish that train of thought. Her mind drifted to think about all of the missions she's had with Naruto over the years.

He was strong. Stronger than anyone else she knew. So for him to say that he was too weak…it just wasn't right. He was too hard on himself, and Ino realized what she would to do. She got up and ran through her bedroom door, to run right into her father. Inoichi rocked back a little and straightened himself before realizing Ino had run Into him. He smiled brightly and gave his daughter a hug.

"Ino! I'm so happy your not brooding anymore! "

"Daddy! I wasn't brooding! I just…needed to think a bit."

Inoichi let go of his daughter and nodded, then gave her a serious look. "Honey, what did Naruto have to say to you?"

"It was nothing dad, just…I don't really want to talk about it. I'd rather forget it and move on."

Ino moved around her father and walked down the stairs.

"I'm going out for a while dad. I'll be back before night comes."

Ino walked out the door and headed down the street. It was three pm, nearly four hours since she spoke with Naruto. She wondered if he would agree with what she said or not. No, he would, she wouldn't take no for an answer. She smiled confidently and went to Naruto's house.

Naruto rolled around in his sleep. He was murmuring to himself and his bed was a mess from all the tossing and turning he'd been doing. Finally Naruto screamed and sat bolt upright, waking up from his nightmare. He rubbed his eyes and sighed in frustration. It didn't happen very often, but every time he went to sleep after using the Fox's chakra for something bad he had nightmares for nearly a week. He felt…unclean. The act of him killing that man just continued to play over and over again.

Naruto got up and ran to the bathroom. He hurled at the memory of his dream. He was a ninja dammit! Killing was natural in his world! But still, he had never killed anybody, not even Tobi, now that was hard. Naruto breathed some more and focused. So it was his first kill, he was lucky enough it didn't happen when he was younger, he probably would have taken it a lot worse. Naruto shuddered at how he might have reacted if this had happened to him when he was still a rookie gennin.

Naruto lifted himself up and went to his kitchen, he needed something to calm his nerves. He set some water on the stove and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Five minutes later he heard a knock on his door. He got out and quickly pulled on whatever clean clothes he had and hurried to open the door. He looked out and saw Ino with a gleam in her eye's that quickly changed to one of shock and confusion.

"Ino-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Naruto, why the hell are you so wet?"

"I just got out of the shower. Seriously though, what's wrong? Are you in trouble?"

"Agh. I just cant take you seriously with you looking like that. Don't you have a towel?"

"No." Naruto said bluntly. Ino rolled her eye's. She could wait from telling Naruto what she wanted to, right now the knucklehead needed her help, even if he didn't know it. She stepped past Naruto, to his protest, and looked around his messy apartment.

"How can you live like this?" Ino asked exasperated.

"Did you come here just to scold me, because I get enough of that from Sakura."

Ino sighed and plopped onto Naruto couch. It was incredibly comfortable and for a moment she forgot why she was there.

"No, that's not why. Listen, dry yourself off with that shirt and get properly dressed. We're going shopping."

"What?" Naruto yelled.

"I said what I said, now do it!" Ino got up and pushed Naruto into his room, slamming the door. The teapot went off and Ino poured out two glasses. She sipped at her tea as Naruto came out slightly annoyed.

"Here's your tea" Ino said handing him the cup.

"Uh…thanks?" Naruto looked at the tea cup and cradled it. "Why are you doing this Ino?"

"Because you obviously need some help. This place is a mess, your fridge is empty, and it smells like you haven't washed this carpet since you've lived here. No wonder forehead scolds you all the time, I'm surprised she hasn't forced you to go out shopping yet."

"She-uh-she's never been here. You're the first girl that's set foot in here."

Ino was surprised by that. She set her tea down and sighed, glaring at Naruto.

"You know how lame that sounds right? C'mon let's go." Ino grabbed Naruto and headed out the door.

"Okay! Now this is more I like it." Ino said after arriving back at Naruto's apartment. Naruto had to agree with her, his apartment looked considerably better. Who knew that two hours of shopping and an hour of cleaning could do so much.

"Seriously, the way you shopped though Ino, I thought I was gonna go broke." Ino slapped his back in annoyance.

"Hey, just remember that if it wasn't for me bargain shopping you'd have probably paid even more."

Naruto shuddered at the thought as Ino hopped over to sit on the couch. Naruto's eyes widened and he reached out a hand to stop her but as soon as she sat she sprung right back up.

"Shit! Naruto! You forgot to move the freaking cake we got! Now my skirt is ruined!"

"Sorry, sorry! I have some extra clothes in my closet so you can change."

Naruto scrambled around and let Ino pass as he tried to busy himself with cleaning out the couch. Ino huffed into Naruto's room, annoyed at having to undress in a guy's house. She rummaged through his closet and found a pair of pants that weren't a gaudy orange and tightened it with one of Naruto's belt's. She motioned to leave the room when she saw a blast of color out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw a beautiful potted flower on Naruto's shelf, the colors and size of it made it simply breathtaking.

'The baka takes care of flower's?' she thought. She wandered around the room a bit, looking at some of the other things Naruto had. He had a picture of team seven, another of Jaraiya and Tsunade celebrating Naruto's sixteenth Birthday with him, and one of a tall blond man and a fiery haired woman. They were smiling with a dreamy expression and the woman was visibly pregnant.

"That's my parents." Naruto said from behind Ino. Ino nodded and set the picture down, then she turned to Naruto. He had a distant look in his eyes and Ino was simply at a loss for words.

"Ino why did you come here in the first place?" Naruto finally said, staring down at the blond girl. Ino raised her head and before she knew what she was doing she hugged him.

"Because," Ino said softly, "You shouldn't have been the one saying sorry. You did more than enough on that mission Naruto. You can't always blame yourself when something goes wrong, that kind of guilt rips people apart."

Naruto couldn't move. He had absolutely no idea what to do in this kind of a situation and was too afraid to even breathe. Ino backed up from him and smiled. Then a grin grew on her face as Naruto's stomach grumbled.

"Well, we did do a lot today, how about I treat you to Ichiraku?"

"Alright! Talk about brightening a mood! Let's go!" Naruto grabbed Ino by the wrist and bolted out the door.

"Here you go Naruto, one Mega Ultra Chicken Deluxe Ramen with added Pork."

Naruto drooled and Ino could have sworn that Naruto's eyes were in the form of Ramen Bowls.

"Oh boy!" Naruto yelled as he began to devour the Ramen had placed in front of him.

"And here you are miss, one diet Miso Ramen with added cayenne spices."

"Thank you" Ino said, and not to be outdone, dug in with the same intensity as Naruto.

Naruto paused slightly before continuing his own meal, smiling all the while. Ino had changed slightly, but she was still way too competitive. In four minutes they were both finished and left the Ramen bar.

"Ah man, thanks so much Ino-chan. I haven't had a real meal since last week."

"No problem Naruto, I was craving something a bit greasy to tell the truth. A week of field rations just doesn't really keep you feeling good you know?"

Ino's stomach grumbled and she clutched it in discomfort. She shouldn't have eaten so fast.

"Man, now I have to go back on a diet." Ino sighed. "All those calories from the rations and the ramen cant be helping my figure."

"Another diet? Why do you torture yourself like that? Didn't I tell you before that you don't need to diet?"

"Whatever. Listen Naruto I have a favor to ask."

"Oh? What is it?" He turned to see Ino with a serious expression on her face.

"Naruto, I'm terrible as a combat ninja. All I can do is stealth recon, and some small medical jutsu's. If I were stronger then I wouldn't have needed you to save me from that man."

Naruto flinched inwardly at the mention of the man and how he had simply killed him. "Ino, what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying, Naruto train me!" Naruto got tooken off guard and realized that Ino was completely serious. Naruto sighed in indecision, he didn't really know how to teach a real student.

"Ino-chan, I know you want to get stronger but-"

"Listen closely Naruto. I don't want to be helpless anymore, I don't want to be the person who always need's saving. I want to learn to be strong like the best, and let me tell you something, you're the best! So train me! Please Naruto, train me."

Ino wasn't begging, she was much too proud of that, but she was doing something even more profound. She was showing Naruto her vulnerability's. Naruto slowly processed this then nodded confidently.

"Alright Ino-chan your on. I'll train you, but don't tell Konohamaru. If he found out you were my student he would challenge you to see which of my two students were better."

Ino laughed and Naruto grinned, both enjoying the little joke.

"Okay okay, but seriously now, meet me at the training grounds tomorrow at seven a.m. And don't eat breakfast before hand unless you enjoy throwing up."

Ino nodded and Naruto dashed off to home. Ino turned and walked to her own home. On her way she noticed Sakura passing by with groceries and ran up to meet her.

"Sakura! Hey forehead!" Sakura cringed at the nickname and turned.

"Hey Ino-pig, what's up?" Sakura noticed Ino's strange clothes and raised her eyebrows. "No offense but your fashion sense seems to have taken a nose dive. What's with the pants?"

Ino looked down and blushed a bit. "I had an accident and Naruto loaned me a pair of his. Any way's-"

"Wait, Naruto loaned you a pair? Why?" Sakura said a bit suspiciously.

"Oh, because it was his fault. Any way's I haven't been able to ask you yet, how was your date with him?"

Sakura smiled at the night's memory. "It was really sweet. I've known him for so long, but actually going out on a date with him showed me a whole other side to him."

"Wow, sounds like your real smitten. So is there going to be a second date?" Ino said grinning.

"Yeah," Sakura said shyly, "He's going to take me out when I'm not so busy at the hospital."

"Alright then I've gotta go. Good luck Sakura!" She waved goodbye and went home.

Ino arrived at her house and went up the stairs, saying hello to her mother in the shops backroom. Once inside she went past her father in the kitchen and started to her room when Inoichi called out to her.

"Ino aren't you going to have dinner?"

"No thanks dad, I just ate at Ichiraku's with Naruto." Ino cursed herself internally as she realized how that sounded.

"Naruto? Wait…are those his pants? Ino what happened?"

"Nothing, there was a little accident and Naruto loaned me a pair, that's all."

"Alright Ino, I'll believe you. Is your mother done watering the plants down stairs in the shop?"

"Yeah, she'll be up soon." Ino moved to her room then paused.

"Sorry dad I almost forgot, I'm gonna leave early tomorrow for training so don't freak out that I wont be here."

"Training? With who?" Inoichi said, hoping it wasn't who he thought it was.

"Naruto, he said he'd help train me." Ino left to her room and Inoichi let out a sad sigh as his wife entered.

"Is everything alright dear?" she said.

"I don't know" Inoichi said. 'Naruto, you'd better not try anything with my daughter!'

Ino came onto the practice field right on time and met Naruto by the memorial stone. As Ino approached Naruto looked over at her, a slight smile on his face.

"To think, I'd have a student so soon. It seems like yesterday Ero-sennin took me on that training trip."

"Hey c'mon Naruto, he wouldn't want you to brood like that. Let's get started now shall we?"

Naruto nodded and grinned. He put an alarm clock down and brought out two little bells.

"I have here two bells, your challenge is to steal these away from me before the timer sounds. All you need is just one bell. Attack as though you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance."

"Wait, Sakura told me about this. This was your first mission."

"Yeah, but instead of pass or fail I'm using it to see just where you need to build skill in. Ready? Go!"

Ino leaped back expecting an attack but Naruto turned and ran into the forest instead. Ino ran after him and almost immediately sprung a trap Naruto had set up before hand. Ino ducked as several blunted kunai zoomed right past her. Ino sprung up and continued her search for Naruto when suddenly Naruto exploded out from under the ground and jabbed her several times with his fingers before dashing away, leaving Ino frozen still. Every place Naruto had poked her would have been a fatal strike if he had been using a weapon. It was simply terrifying to know he could have just killed her if he needed to. How could she possibly hope to win against that?

"Hey, hey, calm down. Don't think about it too much, your still alive aren't you? Besides he hasn't left you to do this by yourself."

Ino turned to see Naruto, or rather a Naruto, standing against the tree across from her.

"When did you get there?"

"I can see why you would ask him for help. Your way too rusty Ino. Alright then, I've been assigned as your coach. I'll be helping you out now and again and teach you things on the fly during this exercise."

Ino became angry on the inside. 'How dare he think so little of me! I can do this by myself! I don't need a coach!'

"He said that you probably wont need me though, I'm just here incase something gets out of hand. Well, that and I can study your techniques more in depth on the sidelines."

Ino grumbled a bit and continued to search the forest a bit more with the Bunshin tagging along. She rounded a tree and came face to face with a Naruto. The Naruto moved quickly, leading with a spin kick, but Ino dodged by running up the side of the tree and coming behind the Bunshin, kicking it in the head as she jumped off. The Bunshin poofed out of existence and three other's leaped forward from out of the tree's all in different directions.

"Shoot!" Ino dug into her weapons pack and threw down a flash bomb. She disappeared and hid under a wide branch, sticking to the bottom.

"Not bad, but running wont win you those bells. You still have around five hours left, you sure you don't want any help?"

"Agh! I cant think! What should I do?" she asked. The Bunshin grinned and came closer.

"Why not fight fire with fire?" The Bunshin said slyly. Ino grinned as she got what he was thinking.

"See, this is why I'm here. Now to do the technique this is what you do…"

Three and a half hours later Ino and the Bunshin were searching for the real Naruto. Ino had begun to hunt Naruto down in a much smarter way than just searching the forest for him. She was focusing on a sensory jutsu that would allow her to pick up the location of several brainwaves, and whenever she found one she would investigate. There was only one left as she had destroyed nearly one hundred of Naruto's Bunshins. The last one was just twenty yards away when her Naruto Bunshin tackled her to the ground.

"What the hel-" A sword flew just above where Ino would have been and a new ninja flashed past them to catch his thrown blade. Ino quickly got up and the Naruto Bunshin took up a stance between the two.

"How did you find me out here? I've been hiding out for over a month from your anbu without raising suspicion. What are you, bounty hunter ninja?"

"Ino run! This guy is bad news!" The Bunshin said. Ino moved back and leaped off the branch. The ninja went forward, ready to strike down the Bunshin when suddenly he was kicked sideways by a second Ino. A third Ino then came from it's hidden place in the tree leaves and slammed down on the ninja's head. The ninja recovered mid fall and pushed himself off the tree branch and spun away while hurling three bomb kunai at the Bunshins. The Naruto Bunshin ran forward and grabbed the bomb kunai, protecting Ino's Bunshins while the real Ino came from under the ninja and grabbed him by the neck of his shirt. She hauled and pulled with all her might and flung him up into the air.

"Ya-" Then the first clone punched the man up higher. "Ma-" The second clone kicked the ninja up higher still. "Na-" The real Ino leaped up to the ninja and grabbed his leg. She spun around and threw him up even higher into the air, near the tree tops. "Ka-" Finally the Naruto Bunshin ran up a tree and leaped off throwing the bomb kunai back at the ninja. They struck dead on and the ninja erupted in a burst of flame from the bomb. "Exploding Rendan!" Ino finished.

The ninja plummeted to the ground and Ino released her bunshins. The Naruto Bunshin ran and caught the ninja before he hit the ground and set him down. Then the Bunshin ran up to Ino and Ino grinned in victory. She extended her hand to shake the Bunshins hand, but when the Bunshin reached out Ino grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, spinning him around. She lifted his jacket and grabbed the two bells that were taped to the back of his shirt so as to muffle the sound.

"How'd you know?" The Bunshin, Naruto, asked.

"That you weren't a clone? Puh-leeze Naruto, give me some credit. It just took a while to figure out is all." Ino grinned even wider and stuck her tongue out at him. "So coach, how'd I do?" she said smugly.

Naruto smiled and patted Ino's head to her annoyance. "Great job Ino-chan. Your not as weak as you think you are, you just seem to get too frazzled some times. Still though, your taijutsu skills leave a lot to be desired, it's like you have no fighting style at all, you just charge on ahead. And you also need a Finisher."

"Finisher?"

"Yeah, you know, a powerful jutsu that'll usually end any fight in a big and showy way. Like my Rasengan."

Ino stared at Naruto blankly.

"Are you serious?" Naruto shrugged and Ino began to snicker. "Oh. My. Gosh. You are such a dork!" Ino fell onto her sides and laughed herself silly. Naruto stared at the withering blond on the floor and just pouted.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I know I did. Anyways look forward to more battles of the body and heart next time! Oh and I'm still looking for betareaders. Anyone wanna apply? I'll pay double your normal rate. No tripple! Aww heck, I'll just pay you in gum, everyone wants to get paid in gum now a days. (Yes my sense of humor is that bad. Shut up!) Good bye!