I'm a little confused about the new additions they did to fanfiction concerning the document option but no matter. I have finished the latest chapter and it's all thanks to my beta, couldn't have done this without you Weixuan. Props!

"Where… am… I?"

Ino Yamanaka slowly scanned the dark and damped place, confused about her whereabouts. She was sure her jutsu reached her target… but this place was different from the rest. In fact, it felt different.

Usually when she entered her target's mind, there were objects inside the mindscape that resembled the owner. Like for example, during her first Chunnin Exam when she entered Sakura's mind, the girl's mindscape was filled with an unhealthy obsession with Uchiha Sasuke. The rooms in there were decorated with his picture on every door and the color was just horrid. She never thought she would live to see pink doors. Even though the place was a mess, there was a warm feeling to it.

Each person's mind is different. She understood that but there was always that warm sense of feeling whenever she entered another person's mind. People claimed that the mind is a powerful weapon and a sacred place and Ino knew that but for the first time in her life, she encountered Naruto's mind, and it was completely different. She didn't know what to do in it. There were so many different paths that could lead to different places and she couldn't help shake off the cold eerie feeling that came with it.

Sounds of water dripping echoed through the hallow hallways. "Great mess you got yourself into Ino…" She said as she started walking around. Her father always told her that if she entered a mind and got lost, just follow the memories. It was amazing how her father's words managed to stay with her to this day.

Memories were kept hidden behind closed doors, a precautionary measurement devised by the brain so that it could store and process them easier. In Naruto's mind, that wasn't the problem. The problem was finding the right path to the right door.

"Left or right…" She asked herself. Looking to her left, the hallway was filled with water while the right path was dry and sturdy. Deciding to take the dry path, she started walking slowly, taking her time to study her environment. When Ino took her fifth step into the right corridor, the floor suddenly gave out and she intuitively jumped off, barely making it back. Her eyes widened as she watched the entire right hallway disappear before her eyes.

"Mental traps…" She muttered as she picked herself up. Ino sighed as she turned back around, cringing as she thought about the left corridor, the only path left open to her. The nasty water and the dark place didn't exactly appeal to her but she entered his mind for a reason. She wasn't going to back out now.

"Why does Naruto have mental traps in his head?" She wondered out loud. They weren't commonly used in a person's mind. Moreover, there were only a handful of people who could use them correctly and if they could, they were most likely masters of the mind like her clan.

Sucking in her pride as a woman, she entered the left corridor. Ino decided to take it slow, seeing as how the right corridor was booby-trapped and if a person like herself were caught inside one of those, it would be the end for her. While she was just a spirit inside another person's mind, whatever damage she sustained in here will affect her physical body out there. Therefore, if she died in Naruto's mind… she would die out there…

Ino's eyes wandered around the area, grayish doors all over the area. "This must be where his memories lie…" The grayish doors reminded her of a depressing place and it was then that she knew. Naruto wasn't the Kyuubi…

All her life, she was taught that the Kyuubi was a legendary demon who lived to torture and kill humans. She was taught that the Yondaime Hokage sacrificed his life to defeat the Kyuubi so Konoha can live in peaceful times. She was taught that Uzumaki Naruto was a dangerous child, someone who she should stay away from. Being the good girl that she was, she obeyed her elders and stayed away from the child called Uzumaki Naruto. Her parents told her stories of what this Uzumaki Naruto was capable off and it frightened her. Stories of mischief and dangerous adventures, it was enough to scare her to stay away.

As she grew older, those stories caused her distancing of Uzumaki Naruto while they were still in the academy. Just by seeing the legendary child that her parents told her about, she made her own decisions and agreed with them. Seeing him day after day wearing nothing but the same hideous orange jumpsuit, her opinions about him didn't change.

'Still the same dangerous child.'

Her opinions stayed the same as they grew older, only greeting him when it was deemed necessary.

Not once did she question why everyone hated Naruto and it didn't bother her much. The only thing she thought about was getting one Uchiha Sasuke for herself and competing with Sakura for everything.

Clothes…

Reputation…

Boys…

As she went up the ranks in her ninja career, she became distant acquaintances with Naruto. Sure she had done missions with the man but that was with a team only. She never went alone with him and the council, including her father, saw to that.

It was on that fateful day that she found out why Naruto was called the legendary child. It was on that day she found out why they all hated Naruto. The villagers called it The Cleansing, seeing as how it was on that day Naruto's biggest secret was revealed to the entire village and his exile.

She still remembered the words she said that day. The hateful words that entered her mind when Danzo announced the truth to everyone. 'Demon scum…' Those two words that caused her to bring back up the memories of her childhood. The hatred that she learned from the older generation. It wasn't until a few months later when she soon regretted her actions…

Ino's hands trembled as they approached the first door. She didn't know if the door was another mind trap or some sort of repressed memory. Just when her trembling hands reached the doorknob, her body tensed, waiting for something to happen. When nothing happened, she released the breath she was holding in. As she slowly opened the door, a bright white light escaped from the room, blinding her in the process. She felt an invisible force surround her body as it sucked her in, the door quickly shutting itself from behind.

- - -

The bright light soon subdued after awhile, temporarily distorting her vision.When it finally came back, she noticed that the environment was different. She wasn't in his mind anymore. She wasn't even sure where she was.

'Where am I now?' She thought as she tried to get her bearings straight. It looked like a small area that vaguely resembled Konoha but the area was different. She then saw a group of men with some torches coming towards her.

'Great. Maybe they can help me.' Just as she was about to speak, she noticed her arms rising and it was then she noticed that she had some small arms. The next thing Ino knew, she was running for her life. She didn't know why but the body ran away from the group, almost as if it was afraid of them. She tried to make it stop but it wasn't listening. It just kept running and running until it ended in a blind alley, a dead end.

She could hear the heavy panting as the sounds of grown men appeared at the entrance of the alleyway. The men approached slowly with a hint of malicious intentions written across their face.

'Wait! Stop! I'm Ino-' She noticed that while she was thinking the words out, there was no sound coming out. No matter how hard she tried, nothing was coming out.

"Heh. The demon finally got trapped." One of the men said, smirking as he cracked his knuckles.

"Let us make this slow and painful Keno." Another man said.

'Demon?' It was then she realized that she was literally inside of Naruto. This was a memory and she was reliving it. This was a new experience for her. Whenever she saw another person's memory, she was usually in her own body, in control of her movements but in here, she was stuck inside of Naruto's body.

"Please…"A small broken voice cried out. "No more…" It had to be Naruto's, Ino assumed. 'Probably when he was younger'.

"Today… you die." The man's cold tone of voice sent shivers up Ino's spine. She could tell this man was serious and she knew what they were going to do. It didn't take a genius like Shikamaru to figure out what he was about to do.

Every punch the man threw, every kick, every cut, every bruise the group inflicted upon Naruto, she felt it. She didn't know how but she felt it. The cold hated glares that the group gave him, she felt it. When the group was finally done with him, the leader slammed Naruto against the wall before leaving him to drown in a pool of his own blood.

Ino felt powerless as she heard the small whimpering sounds coming from Naruto. The tears of a bloody and beaten boy cried as he lay on the ground, unable to move. How she wanted to just leave this body and hold the young boy in her arms, telling him that she was so sorry.

Without warning, Ino felt something tugging on her body. The next thing she knew, she was forcefully ejected from the room, finding herself back in the cold and depressing hallway. "Oh Naruto…" She muttered to herself as wrapped her arms around her body, hugging herself tightly. Those earlier images were still fresh in her mind and it will probably be there for a while.

Ino looked further down the hallway, both sides of the wall filled with an endless supply of doors. They were probably childhood memories and she shuddered at what the next door would hold. Whatever she experienced in there was more than enough to last her an entire lifetime.

"Should I just leave now or… No." Ino shook her head, disagreeing with those thoughts. "I will continue on."

- - -

"What do you mean the scrolls are gone?" Tsunade screamed as a petrified chunnin trembled in fear. The Godaime Hokage slammed her fist against the wall of the restaurant, causing the entire thing to collapse from the sheer power emitted. "Who the bloody hell took it?" She yelled out.

"I-I-I dooon-don't k-knn-know Hoo-Hookage-sama." Tsunade gritted her teeth as her eyes flared with anger. She was about to lash out again when Jiraiya quickly intervened.

"Hurry, we must go." The Toad Hermit stated, urgency detected in his voice. "We must retrieve it before the intruder leaves the village."

"Where the hell do we start looking?"

"The Hokage Tower."

With a quick nod, Tsunade threw the chunnin aside and the two disappeared from the restaurant.

- - -

After exploring several other doors, Ino couldn't take it anymore. She was hating herself more and more as she witnessed more of Naruto's memories. Beatings and spiteful glares from villagers, ignorance and bullying from older children. It was enough to make her vomit from the disgusting things that she seen. Deciding to skip the next set of doors, she walked further down the path. Her original goal for coming into his mind was to confront him and unfortunately, she got more than she bargained for.

After skipping the next thirty doors or so, she found herself stopping at some random door. She didn't know what to expect so she slowly opened the door and just like the other doors, a bright white light blinded her as she felt herself being dragged inside.

Instead of finding herself trapped in Naruto's body like the other times, she was floating in the sky. Ino glanced around the area. She wasn't in Konoha anymore, that much was certain. It looked more like the forest area and she spied two statues by a waterfall. As she flew closer to get a closer look, her eyes widened in shock as she noticed the destruction surround the area. The ground was destroyed and parts of the statue was chipped and cracked.

"SASUKE!" That was Naruto's voice that screamed out the Uchiha's name. She quickly turned towards the direction to see what he was yelling about and to her shock, she saw Naruto surrounded by an orange aura which she deduced to be the Kyuubi's chakra.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke snarled back as Ino turned her head in the other direction. She let out startled gasped as she saw Sasuke with huge claw-like wings on his back but what's more was that his usual pale complexion was now dark and gray.

Realization soon hit Ino as she looked up at the statues, recognizing them. "Oh my god… This is the fight between Naruto and Sasuke during their younger days. This was the fight that Shikamaru told me about. The fight that occurred at the Valley of the End…"

"CHIDORI"

"RASENGAN"

The roars of the two mighty techniques caused Ino to turn her attention back to the fight. She saw Naruto and Sasuke leaping into the air, the attacks glowing on each of their arms.

"NARUTOOO!" Ino screamed as she flew towards the fight, hoping to stop their battle in time. As she dashed towards them, she watched in horror as the final battle took place in front of her eyes. Sasuke's Chidori went head to head with Naruto's Rasengan. The two techniques battled it out for dominance. She watched on helplessly as Sasuke's technique slowly overpowered Naruto's, a huge smirk on the Uchiha's face as he went in for the final push.

"Oh my god…" She clasped her hands to her mouth as Sasuke impaled the Chidori through Naruto's chest. "Why Naruto… WHY?" She screamed out as tears dripped down from her face. While she was preoccupied, she missed the small words from Sasuke.

"Why dobe…?"

"Because I made a promise…" Naruto responded. Ino looked up, seeing a smile on the blond's face as blood dripped from his mouth.

"This has to be a fabrication of the truth… This has to be a LIE!" Ino yelled out. "Sasuke never impaled his arm through Naruto's chest. The reports never stated that. Shikamaru never mentioned that part to me! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Ino slammed her fist on the ground as Sasuke yanked his arm out. "… Naruto kept it to himself… he lied to us. The bastard lied to us!"

Rain soon began to fell from the heavens, almost a sign from the gods that they too were sad about this battle. Ino wept in silence as she watched Sasuke's hitai-ate dropped from his head, falling next to Naruto.

"Why…" Ino asked before the familiar feeling engulfed her body, throwing her out of the memory once more.

- - -

"What the hell happened here Kakashi?" Tsunade immediately asked when she arrived at her office. The Godaime Hokage expected to find her office still in one piece but to her surprise, she was not only greeted with one surprise but two. The first surprise was that her office was no longer an office and she now had a sky window the size of a one room apartment. The second surprise was that three of Konoha's most respected members of the council were found dead in her office.

"You better tell me something Kakashi!" The woman threatened.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders as he looked around. "To be frank Hokage-sama, whatever you see is whatever you get."

Jiraiya chuckled as he folded his arms. He whistled at the amount of destruction that was laid before him. You had to admit, this was indeed a humorous thing. A quick glare from Tsunade silenced the man. He knew she was angry, but he just didn't know how pissed she was.

"Who did this?"

Kakashi cringed at the question. That was one thing he didn't want to answer. "Uh… well it was like this… uh… Sakura?"

He quickly dragged Sakura into the picture, shoving her into Tsunade's face. "Sakura will explain it."

"When we got to your office Shishou, the place was already ruined and destroyed. Pakkun detected a faint chakra trail that belonged to one Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura answered with disgust as she put emphasis on the name of the perpetrator.

"Naruto was here?" Tsunade and Jiraiya both asked. "What the hell was he doing here?"

She shrugged. "There were bodies lying all over the hallway, all of them belonging to ANBU. My guess is that whatever he was here for, it had to be something big."

"Uh… yes... Thank you for the report but you're dismissed now Sakura."

Sakura bowed her head and left. Tsunade waited until Sakura disappeared before turning to Kakashi. "Who else was involved?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." The cyloptic ninja responded. His Sharingan was steadily analyzing the chakra residue left behind from the two fighters.

Tsunade sighed. "Go fetch your former student Kakashi and make sure he comes in escorted by ANBU. He doesn't leave the village. Do you hear me?"

"Hai."

Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a worried Tsunade alone on the rooftop. "What does he want with the scroll?" She asked.

Jiraiya walked on over, putting his hand on her shoulder. "They want one thing and one thing only. The destruction and salvation."

- - -

After that last memory, Ino strolled around in the hallway, her thoughts occupied with Naruto. She couldn't understand how Naruto survived that encounter. From what she saw, it looked like Sasuke pierced through one of his lungs and he walked away with a scratch. Did the Kyuubi provide some sort of advanced bloodline that made Naruto immune to death?

She didn't know the answer to that but she did know one person who did. While she was in her own little world, she unconsciously walked past the next twenty doors. She figured one more memory wouldn't hurt but knowing her luck so far, these were probably all painful memories for Naruto.

She prepared herself as she opened another door, mentally shielding her eyes from the white lights. Once those lights died out, she looked around, wondering when and where she was. From her perspective, it looks like she was standing above that ramen stand that Naruto hangs around.

She watched as Naruto sat there eating ramen, happily chatting away with the owner but this Naruto was older. An explosion suddenly occurred, causing everything in the area to feel the aftershock. Ino's eyes widened when she realized that this memory took place just before the hospital explosion. She quickly looked down as Naruto tended to a fallen man and then looked up, seeing the building go up in flames.

"Naruto was innocent…" Her words came out like a whisper. "He was innocent." Those words kept repeating themselves in her mind. She couldn't believe it. Naruto was right, he didn't do it.

"Hey! Get your hands off him." Naruto angrily shouted as he shoved several ANBU out of the way.

She watched the interaction between Naruto and several ANBU, noticing that Naruto's eyes turned colder with each passing second. By the end of their conversation, his eyes showed no emotion, only a piercing stare that even made her flinch.

"You don't deserve to be ANBU. Your captain would be crying right now." She heard him speak. 'Oh that's right. Naruto was the ANBU Captain.' She thought. She winced as she watched how Naruto brutally dealt with the ANBU squad. Deciding that she had seen enough, she ejected herself from the memory, returning back to the hallway.

Her mind was still shaking from the information that she saw. She had enough information to prove that Naruto didn't commit the crime but just how was she going to convince Naruto to come back. Hell, he was probably angry that she invaded his mind. She shivered to think about what he would to do her if he ever found out.

"What do you mean you can't tell me anything you blasted furball?" An angry voice shouted as the echo reached Ino's ears. There shouldn't be anyone else in here but her. It would be dangerous for two mind walkers to enter one mind at once. Naruto could suffer some permanent damage to his mind if the person decided to take his revenge on him.

Walking as quietly as she could through the hallway, she found herself at the entrance to a huge room. As she leaned forward, she could only see the back of the man's head, his cloak blocking everything.

"I want to know what the hell is going on. This is MY body if you don't remember." The man said.

"QUIET you stupid whelp. This may be your body but I am the lord of the demons. Do not forget your place." A deep voice roared back.

The man sighed as he folded his arms. A deep chuckle was heard simultaneously.

"Come out Yamanaka."

"Come out mind walker."

Her heart jumped a few stories when the two voices called out her name. They knew she was there. Ino thought about her options here. She could go out there and face the music or they could come to her and kill her. Deciding that the first choice was probably the best choice, she slowly walked out, determined to let this man know that she was in charged.

"Who the hell are -" Ino stopped in the middle of her question when the man turned around, an annoyed expression on his face. "Na-a-Naruto."

"Did you have fun going through my memories?" Naruto coldly asked. "I certainly didn't."

Ino remained speechless, unsure about what to say to this man. He wasn't even supposed to be here. It was only suppose to be her walking through his mind at her own pace but somehow, her plans always got messed up.

Before she knew it, she found herself being slammed into the wall, opposite of the cage. "I will give you to the count of three to get out of here Ino. You invaded my privacy and saw some very personal memories. Be lucky that I don't feed you to him."

"…Him?" Ino asked. Sure, she could have asked some other better questions but due to the uniqueness of her situation, that was the only thing she could get out.

Naruto pointed his finger towards the cage. "Kyuubi."

"For the first time whelp, you're finally making sense. Feed her to me. I can't wait to taste another mind walker."

Ino hastily shook her head, disagreeing with the whole idea. She reached up and tried to break free of Naruto's iron grip but his hold over her was strong. "Please Naruto… I can explain." I hope. She could see his cold eyes staring into her, as if he was weighting the decision.

"Fine." He slowly replied. "But if I don't like your answer, I'm feeding you to Kyuubi."

Ino gulped as Naruto released her. She watched as he retreated back to the other side, leaning in front of the cage. She saw the huge devious smile on the demon's face as it appeared by the bars.

"Uh well… Just for the record… I'm not here to kill you or anything." That earned a snort from Naruto. "I just want your forgiveness."

"That's it? You come all the way here just so you can ask that? Are you stupid?" He shot back. "Do I look like some kind of church? I can't even set foot into a goddamn church."

"I know what we did to you were wrong…" Ino plead.

"Wrong? Wrong? You pitiful fools do not even know the first mistake of being wrong." Naruto shook his head in disappointment. Talking with her was bringing back bad memories. "I'm sure you saw my memories. Those daily beatings. Those daily harassments. Did I once take revenge?" He dryly asked. He wanted her to take a guess. He wanted her to understand one thing while she was here. He wanted her to understand that there was no way in hell he was going to forgive them.

"…no…" Ino quietly mumbled.

"That's right no. I never once fought back. I never once thought of getting revenge and do you know why?"

Again, the girl shook her head. "Because I thought they would change. I thought for sure they would at least acknowledge me when I became a ninja but what did I know. These were ignorant people who were incapable of change. I even declared myself to become the next Hokage in order for them to like me but look at where that got me. A freaking chase around the village by several ANBU."

At this point, Naruto chuckled. "This village… has lived to its peak of existence. There is nothing more for it but destruction… I will be the one to bring judgment to this village."

Judgment? Was Naruto seriously talking about revenge here? What happened to the boy who wanted to become Hokage. Ino felt helpless as she stared at the man standing before her. His cold piercing eyes, his chiseling face and his twisted logic. As much as Konoha meant to her, she couldn't let it fall to the grounds.

"Wait Naruto… I'm sure there's a better way. Maybe…"

"No." The man sharply replied. "Nothing they do or say will change my mind. They can all bow to me and it still wouldn't matter. All that matters is revenge."

Okay, that was it. Ino had enough of him going emotional on her. He was reminding her too much of Sasuke. She watched as Naruto continued on, ranting about how he was going to destroy the village and everyone in it until she had enough and just slapped him across the face, shocked expressions showing up on both of their faces.

"What the hell was that Yamanaka?"

"Uh…" She really couldn't find anything to tell him. Hell, she didn't even know why she slapped him. "Sorry." Ino apologized. "You reminded me of Sasuke."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, now interested at her analysis. "I remind you of Sasuke? That self-centered egoistical son of a bitch teme?"

"Well... you did for a second."

Even for a ninja of his caliber, Naruto took a second to massage his swollen cheek. No matter how strong a woman was, a slap was a slap and it stung like hell. He sighed as his thoughts reflected back to their earlier conversation. "Maybe I did overact a bit…" He muttered to himself.

He casually glanced at Ino, whose attention was now focused at Kyuubi. She didn't look scared of the beast. In fact, she wasn't even intimidated. She had a look of curiosity in her eyes, like a six year old girl who wandered into a room full of books. Maybe she was different from the rest, different from them.

"Yamanaka." Naruto called out.

Hearing her name, Ino stuck her tongue out at Kyuubi, infuriating the beast some more before turning around towards Naruto.

"Get out of my mind and disappear."

"Disappear?"

"There will come a time where I will see you again and when that time comes, I will not hesitate to kill you."

"But -"

"I wasn't done." Naruto replied, holding his hand up. "If you were to disappear from Konoha and prove to me that you actually want to seek my forgiveness, I will reconsider your offer."

"Hm…" Ino curiously started walking around Naruto, circling him as she was inspecting something. "I don't know…"

Naruto stood there, his eyes following her meaningless actions. "What are you doing Yamanaka?"

Ino held a finger to her chin while she continued circling Naruto. "I still don't know why you saved me Naruto. You remember that day right? You saved me from Sasuke and released me as prisoner. I'm just curious to know why you did that."

"I needed a hostage and as much as I hated Sakura, I did not want her as a hostage. Kill her maybe but hostage no."

"Are you sure there's nothing mooore?" Ino asked. If she worked her charm right, maybe she can get deeper into Naruto's head, see what makes him tick. The handsome man standing in front of her was just a mystery, unknown to the world. "Are you sure you didn't just save me to keep me for yourself?"

Her question caught Naruto off guard. She knew it and she could see that he knew it too. Score one for womankind! She smiled secretly as she awaited his answer.

"I saw that killing you would have no effect on Konoha. Killing someone like Sasuke or Sakura might have an impact but you, on the other hand, do not have the worth needed to impact Konoha." The man replied.

Ino's eyes went up in flames as she took his words to heart. "WHAT DID -" Watching the man in front of her smirk, she calmed herself down. She was a lady and she was going to act like one. No matter how big of a jerk the guy was. "I mean you're wrong. I'm from a specialized clan. We're masters of the mind."

"The mind is a weak place if the person is caught off guard."

Ino gritted her teeth as Naruto continued to throw off insults. "A person's mind is only as strong as the person itself. If he or she is weak in spirit, the mind will be easily crushed."

"Enough!" The Yamanaka heir yelled out. He won her little game and he was just rubbing it in her face. "You made your point. I will take you up on your offer Naruto but how will you find me?"

Naruto then chuckled at Ino's expense. "Don't worry about that... Just leave it to me..."

- - -

"Do you hear that Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked, his head turning to locate the source of that ringing.

"Hear what?" The Godaime Hokage yelled from across the wing. "I didn't hear any ringing."

"Wait. Shush for a second." The Toad Sannin walked towards the small sound, the ringing originating from behind a destroyed bookshelf. With one move, Jiraiya tossed the bookshelf across the room, locating the source. "What is this Tsunade?"

"Let me see."

Jiraiya threw the object to Tsunade who caught it with ease. Her eyes widened as she held it up to her eyes. Seeing his teammate lost in a trance like state, Jiraiya got annoyed with being ignored. "Well?" He asked.

"It's the calling…" Tsunade slowly answered.

"The calling? What is that?"

"The calling of the Kages…"

Author's Note: Uhoh, looks like things are starting to pick up. Wonder what's in store for our heroes now.