Chapter 25: Naruto's Trial

A week after the mission of the Sound Liberation, Naruto and Konohamaru had been called in to stand before the village elders, although they were not told why. They headed off with the ANBU who had informed them, and Naruto realized that they were headed to the stadium where his Chunin Exams finals had been held. He went inside with Konohamaru, both wearing their trademark outfits.

As they entered the stadium, Konohamaru gaped in awe. It seemed that the entire village was present at the stadium. They went to the center of the stadium and saw Tsunade, along with the three village elders, Danzo, Homura and Koharu. Gaara and his siblings were sitting next to them. Near them, in the rows behind, Naruto noticed Kakashi, Gai, Shikaku, and many other Jonin. On the left hand side were all his friends, the rookie eleven, and Konohamaru's friends. Ino looked at him sadly, and Sakura was also looking worried. He saw Moegi looking sorrowfully at Konohamaru and Udon was also looking quite serious.

Tsunade tapped the mic and the entire crowd went quiet. She said in a stern voice, "Naruto Uzumaki and Konohamaru Sarutobi, you have been summoned before the Leaf Village to answer for your questionable actions during the Sound Liberation. Naruto, you disobeyed the direct order of your mission leader, a higher ranking shinobi, and a Kage, no less. Moreover, you did this in a war, knowing the importance of the situation. Konohamaru, you disobeyed your team leader's order to stay with him and went off on your own, even though you knew that you were not qualified enough to do so. Explain your actions. Konohamaru, you may speak first."

Konohamaru put his hands in his pockets, shrugged and said, "I acted in the interest of the mission. I had a visual on an important target of the Sound village. Since my mission leader was busy in another battle with the rest of my teammates, I had to follow that target myself. I was going to contact my leader but unfortunately, the target I was following was a Jonin, and he caught sight of me, engaging in combat. I was unable to call for support, and was about to be killed when Naruto saved me. He was able to talk the target out of killing me and also persuaded said target to join the True Sound village. All in all, I think I did nothing wrong, as any ninja should consider their mission more precious than some silly order."

Tsunade said, "I see. We will come back to you later. Naruto, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Naruto nodded and said, "There isn't much to tell. Gaara was seriously wounded in the fight against Kabuto Yakushi. He tried to tell us that he wanted to fight Kabuto, but he was too injured. I told my team-mates to head back while I fought Kabuto. They protested at first but I persuaded them to listen to me and went off to fight Kabuto."

Koharu leaned forward and spoke into her mic, "What we need to know is why you disobeyed the orders of your team leader. The Kazekage does not remember saying anything after his injury."

Naruto said, "Look, I'm not Gaara. I can't tell what was going on in his head at that moment. I just did what was right for the sake of the mission. Gaara was so badly injured that if he had not received immediate medical attention, he could have died." Danzo said, "Why did you take matters in your own hands?"

Naruto said, "I've known Gaara for quite some time. In case you guys don't remember, I was the one who fought him during the attack on our village four years ago. I was the one who confided my feelings with him, and made him realize that he is not a bad person. Since then, Gaara has become very protective and caring. But it is also true that he still feels the intense desire for revenge after his father was killed by Kabuto. I sure as hell would feel mad if my father was killed by someone who was still out there, living. It's the same feeling that Sasuke has against his brother Itachi."

Everyone froze at that, but Naruto continued, "At that moment, I realized that the emotions had taken over Gaara, ya know? After all, he picked me because of my experience against Kabuto. He was injured and I was still healthy. Besides, Gaara is the Kage of one of the Five Great Nations. I'm just a Genin. A few people would mourn over my death, but imagine the turmoil that would be caused if the Kazekage died, when he needn't have."

Homura was interested by this answer and he said, "Let me ask you something. Sakura and Neji were able to evacuate Gaara to the medical camp without any trouble. If you had known about this when you took charge, would you have let someone stay back with you?"

Naruto pondered on that for a minute and then replied, "No I would not. Sakura is a medic, she was responsible for keeping Gaara alive while they made it back. And everyone knows that Neji is one of the most powerful members of his clan. His scouting abilities and Byakugan are basically what allowed them to make it through without virtually any fighting. If either one of them had not been there, they most probably would have ended up fighting someone and Gaara may have died."

Everyone considered that and Naruto said exasperatedly, "Look, I'm not going to admit that I made a mistake or something like that, all right? Neither is Konohamaru. We acted for the best of the mission and I 'm pretty sure that any other shinobi who isn't afraid of dying would have done the same. And despite my rank, I don't hold any doubts that I could easily defeat more than half of the ninjas in the Leaf village quite easily. I defeated Neji in my first Chunin exams. I know my battle prowess more than anyone else in the world, except maybe the Pervy Sage, who isn't here right now. So if you're going to demote us or decommission us or something, just get it over with."

Tsunade looked at all the other sitting next to her and they all nodded, except for Danzo. She glared at him and he waved his hand at her, irritated. Tsunade stood, shifting her stare back to the Genins.

She said, "There seems to be a slight misunderstanding, Naruto. We are here to judge you, not punish you. Everyone here knows that a good ninja is one who follows orders, but a great ninja is one who knows when orders must be stretched or disobeyed. We also know that things change in the heat of battle. A ninja must be adaptable. It takes a great deal of wisdom to see how to act as to what is needed. Until now, we were doubtful whether the two of you really had that wisdom. But your actions and defense of them have convinced us that you really have grown."

Her face turned proud.

"Therefore, it is my greatest honor, in the name of the Tribunal and with the agreement of the Kazekage, to grant the two of you the rank of Chunin, with all the privileges and responsibilities that come with them."

Naruto and Konohamaru just stood there, dumbfounded, as the entire crowd rose to their feet and cheered. Their friends swarmed towards them and Kiba patted him on the back, so hard that he almost fell over. The Tribunal stood, and Tsunade clapped, while the other elders looked on in appreciation. Danzo simply stalked out of the stadium. But Naruto still did not react.

Realizing he was surrounded, he started to look around. Someone kept shaking his hand, or hugging him, but he had eyes only for one person. And then, she was there, tears of joy running down her cheeks, and a radiant smile on her lips.

"Congratulations, Naruto." Ino said, her voice full of happiness. She blushed as he cupped her face, and then right in front of more than fifty thousand people, he kissed her. And in that instant, she was all he knew existed.

He felt her put her arms around him, pulling them together, pressing her body to him, crushing her breasts against his chest. He could smell her skin and hair, and marveled at the gentle plumpness of her lips against his. He moved his hand slightly up her back, and she shuddered in pleasure. He shifted his face, changing the angle of his kiss, so not an inch of her lovely mouth went unattended.

Finally, the need to breathe overtook them and they broke apart.

Naruto said, "I love you, Ino." She smiled, "I love you, too."

Suddenly the two of them became aware that they had kissed in front of almost the entire village. The tone of cheers had changed to catcalls and wolf whistles. The Hokage and elders pretended that they were annoyed by this sudden display, but it was obviously an act. In the entire crowd, only one face seemed sad at the display, and that was Hinata's.

But Sakura could not bear to look at her team-mate. The medical kunoichi was looking down at the floor, tears running down her sad and disappointed eyes. She turned and walked away, pushing her way through the crowd. Kakashi watched her leave with a narrowed eye.

Ino blushed deeply, having realized that they had made their relationship known to the whole village, as well as all their friends. Naruto whispered, "Let's get out of here." She nodded, and said, "Okay."

Naruto held her up in his arms and suddenly disappeared in a flash. Again, Kakashi looked at the spot where Naruto had just been, in amazement. The cheering gave way to laughter, and Naruto's friends and allies settled down.

Konohamaru was also congratulated heartily, and he and his friends went off to have a party, celebrating him becoming a Chunin. Tsunade looked at Gaara, and said, "Good for him." Gaara nodded with a tiny smile, and suddenly, Jiraiya appeared out of nowhere.

"Did I miss it?"

Tsunade glared at him, "Of course you did. You stupid fool, you're always late for everything. Where the hell were you?" Jiraiya groaned, and said, "I was so sure that I would make it in time! Why didn't you call me?"

Tsunade punched him in the head and said, "I called thirteen times, baka! Where were you that you didn't receive my calls?"

Jiraiya rubbed his head and said, "Mount Myoboku."

The finally official couple sat on top of the Fourth Hokage's head, watching the glow of the setting sun. They clung onto each other's hand tightly, Ino's head on Naruto's shoulder. Then she sighed.

Naruto looked at her in concern, "What is it, Ino?"

She told him, "I think we should get back now. Everyone will want to see you, and I don't think it's fair that I keep you all to myself. Much as I want to. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone's still waiting for you back there."

He grinned and said, "Too bad for them, they should understand that I want to spend time with my girlfriend." Ino smiled and said, "Regardless, I think four hours of making out on top of the Fourth's head is quite a lot of time." He grinned sheepishly and she said, "Besides, we should be there for the party."

His grin turned into a look of confusion and said, "Party?"

She said, "The village has the first battlefield promotion in more than a decade and you don't think there'll be a party? I wouldn't be surprised if Master Jiraiya is setting things up as we speak."

He nodded and they both got up. He said, "Hold on tight, then. I'll get us back in no time!"

The two of them reappeared next to Jiraiya, who was busy arranging for a music system. He looked at them and said, smiling, "Not a bad choice, Naruto." The knucklehead grinned and said, "Thanks. By the way, where were you, old man?" Jiraiya opened his arms wide and hugged Naruto, saying, "Congrats Naruto. I'll tell you where I was later, we need to enjoy the party now." Naruto nodded. They went back into the crowd, Naruto shaking hands with everyone enthusiastically now.

Konohamaru and his gang had come back from their little party now, and they congratulated each other. Everyone looked in awe, not having paid that much attention to their matching uniforms and the figures they cut. As Jiraiya started playing some music, everyone roared in delight and began to take to the floor.

The party lasted until midnight, when Tsunade walked over tipsily to Jiraiya and said, "Alright, that'sh quite a lot of time, Jiraiya. We should get thish over with." He nodded and said into the mic, "Unfortunately, the Hokage has her duties to attend to, and any more loud music will be illegal as it isn't allowed after midnight. So, we'll have a last song tonight and then, the party will officially be over."

Everyone groaned in disappointment and then shouted gleefully as the last song was a fast paced one, and they began to dance again for the next five minutes. Finally after the party ended, everyone went back to their houses slowly, congratulating Naruto and Konohamaru again before they went.

Ino and Naruto walked back home, and continued their kissing battle with each other. Today was the day when Naruto's inner voice didn't stop him from continuing, and they spent the night happily, forgetting about everything else except each other.

Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter guys, but I've got an exam coming up tomorrow, so I'm totally screwed. Computer Engineering is not that easy, now that I think of it. So, anyway, maybe I'll write another chapter tomorrow after the exam, but it's a big maybe. I don't know. So, enjoy and Happy Reading!