I do not own Naruto, in any way shape or form.
Darius is, of course, mine.
Chapter 4: The journey back and the celebration
Everyone was gathered outside Asuma and kakashi carried the bodies of the nins to take back to kohona for proof to be confirmed and removed from the bingo book. The bridge builder was happy, now that gato was gone, he and the rest of the people would begin to renew their lives and they had decided on a name, the Great Kohona Bridge.
The journey home was not as rushed as the journey back, Choji wound, slowed him, so everyone walked relax until sasuke didnt want to wait for the slow fatty and took off, leaving everyone else behind.
Narujto snorted, and imitated sasuke, "your all annoying". He tuck out his tongue in the general direction where sasuke left. "good riddance I should say".
Ino was going to say something about naruto mocking sasuke but for some reason, it didnt matter as much.
"so I whipped out a light sword and cut his blade in two!!??? Wow, where did that come from I wonder... what did you see in my mind ino when you did that cool Yamanka family jutsu on me?" Darius asked.
"Oh, you know, typical boy dreams"... she smiled and went back to walking... thinking that she was so familiar.
Kohona was busy and the sensei's were at the tower giving the hokage their report.
"It appeared Naruto was able to access the kyubbi's chakra after hinata looked like she had been killed in front of him. Darius on the other hand, had a strange reaction to ino's situation. Asuma was witnessed to that." Kurneai told the hokage.
"we will deal with darius later, first I want to make sure of something, did the seal break?" sarutobi asked intently.
"No, it doesn't appear that the seal was breaking, and after the emotion passed naruto returned to normal. Examination by kakashi, myself and asuma on the seal shows that it was still strong and kyubbi may have had a instinctive reaction to protect naruto, since if naruto dies, so does kyubbi."
"Very good Kurneai, please keep my informed of any further developments with the kyubbi. Now darius" sarutobi asked.
"I saw it with my own eyes and did a little research on what exactly happened. Similar to naruto, it was triggered by an emotional state when he saw ino being threatened. A kunai was dug 6 inches into solid stone and no elemental affinity was used, he did it with brute force. While possible that he used a technique similar to your former student tsunade, we don't have any evidence to back this up. Further more, he exhibited a ken jutsu technique which is not described in any scrolls I have found in the library . I had ino and myself write down the description of exactly what he did." Asuma finished, handing he hokage the desscriptions.
"the others on the teams worked excellent and the 2 teams meshed well. Kakashi was able to succeed in his mission and eliminated gato from being a further problem. Zabusa was killed, we found his body buried inside the cliff wall and were able to retrieve the body. There is the matter of Haku but we have relinquished him into the custody of the Anbu for interrogation. He could be a valuable ally with his kekki genkai." Kakashi finished.
"Excellent congratulations on this success. Now on to the question of he exams, what are your feelings on your students for the purposes of taking the exams... are they upto the task at hand?" sarutobi asked.
"I submit as a jou nin that my students are ready to take the exam" Kakashi said.
"As my colleague next to me I also agree, my three students are also ready to take the exam, hokage" Kurneai added.
"All three of mine too", Asume finished.
"Very well then, you know the schedule, please prepare your students according, the exams are within a month. You are dismissed." sarutobi said, looking down at the paper asuma gave him.
The teams were all celebrating their recent success in the mission and had meet at the korean barbeque.
"So, what do you think the exam will be like?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto, theres no need to speculate, besides, no one will really talk about it... its troublesome" shikamaru said.
"Only a month to go, I haven't even reworked the sword, I think im gonna have to ask tenten for a new one. Then ill have to adjust, it wont have the same balance..." Darius complained...
"Don't sweat it Darius, im sure it will work out, you will just have to train extra hard to get used to it again." Naruto said with his mouth full of barbeque.
"Do you think w we will do well, n naruto" hinata asked.
" are you kidding, we are the best trackers and the best fighters. Plus you are super great with your taijutsu, genjutsu techniques and have that great medicine that you make from our trips." naruto praised hinata, leaving her blushing as choji quickly skewered a piece of meat and devoured it.
" hey choji, take it easy, leave some for us" ino said.
Choji grinned and said that he needed to bulk up after that last fight. They talked and laughed for awhile until the day wore out into the evening and they said their goodbyes for the night. Naruto walked back to kurneais with hinata. Ino, Darius, Shikamaru and Choji walked back the opposite way, laughing as they lef the two friends on their own.
Hinata enjoyed the time she had alone with naruto. Ever since the mission, she had noticed that naruto seemed to spending more time with her. And while she didn't understand why, but she wasn't going to question it. She even walked with her head up instead of looking at the ground.
Naruto was just happy. Hinata was great, she was strong and smart and seemed to really know how to cheer him up when he was down. He looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back but her face flushed red, why did that always happen.
"Do you really think I am strong, naruto-kun" she said, amazed at her self that she didnt stutter one bit.
"You bet hinata, I think we are good, were friends and family, there is nothing together we cant do" He raised his fist to the sky. "Watch out 4th, the greatest ninja team is gonna show you how strong we are, believe it"!
They arrived at Kurneai's and saw Asuma just leaving. Naruto and Hinata watched as asuma jumped a bit at their arrival before giving a sheepish grin and walking the other way. Kuirneai smiled as she saw naruto and hinata, walking towards the house. Hinata eyes went a bit wide when she realized what had happened and blushed. Naruto just was oblivious as he ever was to the facts before him.
He opened the door for hinata and they proceeded to go inside for the night.
Hinata and naruto slept well that night. One confident as he had always been, the other confident for the first time in her life.
Darius was walking ino back to her family home. Ino casting strange glances at darius who was trying to make idle conversation to her, but he could tell she was more interested in what happened out on the mission.
"I know what you are thinking and I cant answer that Ino. I just... dont know what happened" Drius stated.
"I don't understand how it happened as to more why?? Were you... trying to protect me Darius?" She asked.
"Look ino, im just 13 but I know who is important to me and I know what happiness is. I like you. Your almost like family to me, like naruto and hinata and yet, something about when im around you completes me. You could be a catalyst, maybe I have some hidden keki genkai, I dont know." darius said, looking at her with his green eyes.
She thought and then smirked a bit, which surprised Darius. She moved in for a kiss, her first kiss... Darius was taken in by what he saw. He put his hand over her lips stopping her. Ino looked with wide open eyes and darius's eyes were locked on hers. His face was forlorn and he was smiling.
"Are you insane,. If I kiss you here, your father would find me and Brainwash me into thinking I was a gerbil for the rest of my life."
She looked suddenly angry, when he hugged her and whispered in her ear," I do want that first kiss to be from you ino, just in a different spot is all. After the exams ok"
She was angry and then it faded and she nodded,"ok".
Darius waved good night to her before he ran off. Ino stepped inside her house for the evening, dreaming for the first time of someone other than sasuke.
He saw asuma and suddenly had a brilliant idea.....