"No, it is my wish that you, Jiraiya become the Hokage of Konoha. You embody a lot of the ideals that Hiruzen did which have served this country well. I have also heard from close sources, that you have started training someone from the next generation, showcasing your will of fire to help support the village, as much as you can. You are also the only name that can strike enough fear into the minds of our enemies to prevent them from attacking us in this time of need." As much as Jiraiya knew this to be true, he didn't refute any statements.
Neither Jiraiya nor Danzo who were amongst the group of veteran ninjas in the room wanted this answer. Jiraiya wanted to be selfish much the same way that Danzo did, albeit with two separate outcomes. Shikaku and Inoichi as the Jonin Commander and Head of Intelligence who were in attendance, sighed in relief.
The Sannin, to his credit, was the first to act. He had been around the Daimyo for the better part of 3 decades and knew the man extremely well. This was not an answer he could get the man to budge on. He had offered up the potential that Tsunade would make a better Hokage but that was not to be. If he was going to be able to make this work as best as he could, he was going to need help. He was also going to have to act fast and he couldn't show that he would prefer to be in a different role.
"I am willing to take on this responsibility Daimyo-sama. I request one favour before I take on this role, however. I need two weeks. Then I can devote my time to the role properly." This drew raised eyebrows. Everyone wanted to see what the man had to say.
x-X-x
"Well fuck me, didn't expect for that to happen." Jiraiya commented as he ran his hands through his hair. Inoichi along with Shikaku chose to be silent. They were now standing in front of the new Godaime Hokage.
"Here I was thinking that I could lump the job onto Tsunade and yet… it comes full circle and I'm in charge. Welp, guess this was the only promotion I had left." Jiraiya murmured out loud. "Plus, what was with the Daimyo knowing about Ino? You're feeding him information aren't you Inoichi." Jiraiya gave the man a leer.
To his credit, Inoichi didn't even flinch. "From where I was seated, it was either you or Danzo and I know who I would prefer in the role."
Shikaku was quick to agree. "Agreed. You are a far worthier Hokage than that man ever will be."
"You're not wrong but you are both assholes…" Jiraiya muttered in self-pity. "Oh well, now its time to have two weeks off before my life is over."
"Speaking of, what do you intend to do with this time?" the Nara clan leader questioned.
"I'll be going and getting one of my advisors. Now that I am a Kage, she can't refuse me hahaha. Oh and I am going to be taking two genin with me. Thanks Inoichi." Jiraiya laughed before jumping off the building the trio were standing on and headed off to the Yamanaka compound, leaving the two clan leaders to ponder over the changes happening.
When Jiraiya arrived at the Yamanaka compound, he knocked on the door and was greeted by the sight of Ino. "Oh Jiraiya-sensei! What are you doing here?"
"I've got a mission that I am going on and I am picking two genin two come with me." Eyes widened when she heard this as the blonde's mind raced as she went through the possibilities of what one of the Sannin could need the assistance of two genin? There were not many thoughts coming to her mind.
"Wait a second, who is the other genin?" Ino wondered, hoping on the off chance it may be Sasuke. She was excited for the chance to go on a mission where it was her and her crush.
"Glad you mentioned that. You can go and find them and bring the two of you to the front gates in 15 minutes. Go get that blonde kid from the exams. He looked like he has a lot of potential."
It was an order as all Ino could do was look in shock as Jiraiya left the front door. Naruto? Potential? The blonde haired girl struggled to come to terms with the comment as she could not relate the Naruto that she had grown up with for the better part of a decade, compared to the one that Jiraiya had seen during the exams.
Even she, someone who had managed to improve rapidly during the month off between exams, couldn't believe the Naruto she had seen a few days ago. It was a complete night and day difference.
Naruto had gone from someone who was lucky to stay in fights and win by farting of all things, to a genin completely in control of both of his fights and won by using elemental manipulation.
Shaking her thoughts out of her mind as she had a mission to prepare for, Ino raced upstairs, got dressed into a similar outfit from the chunin exams. That being a set of yoga leggings, and a full sleeve crop top made from the same material and pattern. It was the same light blue colour of her eyes.
A quick application of Chakra was all that she needed to be able to get her long, blonde hair parted down the middle and sit neatly. I love that my hair takes seconds, rather than hours Ino thought to herself as she raced out the door but not before saying goodbye to her mother.
As she ran across the roofs towards Naruto's place, the Yamanaka girl couldn't help but ponder over the comment by Jiraiya further. It's true, Naruto improved massively during since the preliminaries. I wonder how he changed and who it was that taught him? Judging by that comment Sasuke made, it wasn't Kakashi.
When she got to the front door, she knocked and waited for it to open, suddenly realising that this was the first time she was going to a boy's house without her parents that wasn't Shikamaru or Choji. Her heart started beating slightly faster.
"Hello?" Naruto questioned as he opened the door, looking like he had seen better days. There were bags under his eyes, the skin was slightly paler than normal and he hadn't eaten as much as he normally would over the past few days.
Ino, with all the confidence in the world, strode into the room. She was used to Naruto being a pushover. "We have a mission to go on. Got told to come let you know and make sure that you are at the gates in 10 minutes."
"Oh!" Naruto could only think to comment as became a lot more alert in the space of seconds. The thought of a mission excited Naruto and he knew it would give him a chance to not focus on the death of his surrogate Grandfather. It was all that he could think about. "Yeah sure, I'll be ready shortly."
"And would it kill you to clean this place, it looks like a pigsty." Ino commented as she surveyed the room. She saw all the empty ramen cups, the mess on the floor and there was a fishy smell permeating the room.
"Guess you would fit right in then." Naruto replied as he didn't bother looking at her from his room.
Ino sneered at the back of Naruto, not that he cared. "Don't you use that tone at me!" Ino proudly responded back.
"Whatever…" Naruto muttered but it was loud enough that he was able to be heard by the girl. It was only at this time when she saw him come back, that she actually looked at him properly. Naruto was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black shinobi pants. He must be going through something. It was then that Ino remembered just how close Naruto was with the Sandaime Hokage.
Her eyes softened as now wasn't the time for her sassy personality. "Come on Naruto, this mission should be good, you're going to go on a mission with one of the Legendary Sannin!" Naruto's eyes widened when he heard this from Ino. He had heard of them! They were the students of his former grandfather.
"Oh! Alright, I'm just about ready Dattebayo!" Naruto stated, this time with a bit more cheer in his voice. It's odd seeing him not happy… Ino absentmindedly thought to herself.
Naruto came back out to the main room after closing his bedroom door. He was slipping the slightly too long green kimono sleeve over his arm. The blonde haired girl couldn't help but look on as she once again noticed the tattoo on Naruto's arm.
Now that she wasn't in the heat of the moment that was the chunin exams, she could have a deeper look.
Tattoos were not something at all common with the populace of Konoha. The only people that really had them were ANBU and they were more of a form of branding. Whereas the one that Naruto had, was what the Yamanaka would call art. It obviously had other purposes such as storing his sword, but she would classify it as art first and foremost.
It instantly made her look at Naruto in a new light. If anything, she expected Sasuke to the be the type of person to get one as he was the cool guy. Admittedly, she kind of thought that it was something that Naruto was doing for attention as that had been his main objective in the academy.
"You done staring?" Naruto questioned with a rather impassive look on his face. It was clear to Ino as she shot straight up and had a small blush on her face; that she had been caught.
"Oh yes, let's go." She said and the duo exited the Uzumaki's apartment and headed towards the gates, not realizing that that Ino had a blush whilst she was caught staring at him. He would have moved mountains to get the same reaction out of Sakura!
"Did it hurt?" Ino couldn't help but ask. She had so many questions. Never in a million years did she expect one of her friends / comrades to get a tattoo so early, especially not Naruto.
"Huh?" Naruto responded as he was in his own head, thinking about what this mission could be. Seeing where her eyes were again, Naruto realised what she was on about. "Oh the tattoo? Yeah it hurt quite a bit but it wasn't too bad. It's more like a dull, pain all the time but I could handle it dattebayo."
Entranced, Ino asked another question. "What made you get it? Aren't you afraid of getting judged and looked down on by Konoha?" Ino looked with a hesitant face. She knew she wouldn't want to be in that position. She was top of the food chain socially in their age group. Naruto was at the bottom.
"Hahaha. And having a Tattoo would make a difference in that how? The second I was born I've been getting looks like and scorn like that." A mirthless chuckle came from Naruto.
This through Ino for a loop, she didn't know what Naruto was on about. Before she could ask any further questions, they arrived at the gate and Naruto's eyes widened! "You! You never told me that you were the Hokage's student!" Naruto shouted and pointed at Jiraiya who was waiting at the gates.
"Well you never asked midget." Jiraiya replied back with all the maturity in the world. "Let's get going you two." Jiraiya replied, wanting to get out of the village as fast as he could. He didn't even give time for the two genin to stop.
As Naruto was grumbling, Ino spoke up. "Wait a second, you know Jiraiya-sensei!?" Ino asked, an incredulous look marring her face.
"Yeah! I met him during the month before the chunin exams. He paid for my lunch!" Naruto said with a big grin on his face. It was not often that someone was nice to him so he definitely remembered the man.
"Wait, Jiraiya-sensei?" He questioned the way Ino had worded it to him. "Ohh, I remember you saying that you were training some girl. How did you manage to score that?" Naruto asked.
He had seen the amount of improvement Ino had made in the month and it was nothing short of impressive. Hopefully Naruto could find a way to get the man to teach him now that the chunin exams were out of the way.
"Oh, daddy knew Jiraiya and asked him, I think he pulled in a few favours or something?" Ino mentioned with a bit of a blush as she felt embarrassed that she didn't earn it on her own.
"Ohhh, typical clan kid privileges…" Naruto muttered under his breath which Ino didn't know how to respond to that. It was true. She would not have gotten this opportunity if it wasn't for her father.
"Hey, none of that. You've got free reign to have a go at clan kids, if they don't make the most of the opportunities they are given. It wasn't up to Ino but she put all the effort in to improve herself. I didn't teach her some magic jutsu that made her better in the space of a month.
Plus, I'll give you some tasks to do on this mission and if you complete all three, you'll get a jutsu at the end of it." Jiraiya mentioned as he pulled out a water balloon and chucked it at Naruto.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" The blonde caught the balloon quickly; luckily, as it was aimed at his face. Naruto called out, looking intently at the balloon. Ino was doing much the same, wishing she could do something as well.
"Do this." The silver haired man mentioned as he popped the balloon from all directions with ease. Naruto watched in awe and deep concentration, wondering how he was going to replicate it.
Ino for her part, felt a bit left out as she watched her sensei for the past month teach someone else.
As the day wore on and she was practicing on her own skills, she noticed the way that the two boys she was on the mission with interacted. It seemed like Jiraiya got on well with Naruto right from the start and it made her curious how someone like Naruto could garner all of the attention of one of the legendary Sannin so easily.
It almost seemed like he was trying to make up for lost time.
Not that she was idle during this time as she was playing with her hair using chakra, getting more refined with its movement and growth. It not only grew her control, increased her fighting output but also slowly grew her reserves, all whilst they were running towards a city.
x-X-x
The trio of ninjas settled down for the night in the serviced apartment that Jiraiya had rented, which had given Naruto and Ino their own rooms.
That next morning as Jiraiya had already gone out to do research as Ino had heard him call it, she looked back through her items for the mission. Inside her bag, she had the book that Jiraiya had given her.
Naruto. The main character's name is Naruto. I have never heard the name Naruto before. That's a coincidence. As Ino stared at the book, she remembered the way in which Jiraiya and Naruto interacted the day before. There's got to be something there…
Before she could ponder anything further, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it." Naruto called out to which she was grateful for although she was curious as to who it was. Jiraiya wouldn't have knocked.
"Hello Naruto-kun." Naruto was greeted with the site of none other than Itachi Uchiha. The blonde haired boy gasped as he looked up and saw the three tomoe sharingan staring right back at him.
"You…" was all that Naruto could think of as he his heart started beating rapidly. In front of him was the man that murdered all of Sasuke's family.
"Naruto, you will come with us." Itachi stated to which Naruto gulped. He didn't like the sounds of this. It was at this point that Ino walked out of the room to see what was going on, she could hear Naruto's voice and he sounded, scared?
She wasn't too sure who it was, but she had seen those eyes before on Sasuke.
Before answering, Naruto looked to the left of Itachi and saw another man standing there, wielding a massive blade it seemed, wrapped in bandages. There was a sinister look on the man's face.
"I'm not sure if that's the best idea dattebayo." Naruto nervously chuckled racking his brain, trying to think of a way out of this. As much as he was confident in his abilities as a shinobi, Itachi was on another level.
"Itachi, it will be a pain in the ass if we have to chase this kid. Maybe I should just chop off his legs?" The blue skinned man suggested.
Ino, who like Naruto stood still, as she was waiting with baited breath to see what happened, looked horrified at the ease in which this person suggested amputating Naruto.
Before Kisame could get close enough to Naruto, there was another arrival. "Long time no see, Itachi Uchiha!" A menacing growl accompanied those words and all in attendance turned to face who it was. Ino who was still in the room didn't need to turn to know that voice.
Sauske-kun!
Kisame who saw the fully developed sharingan staring back at him, got excited for a moment. "A sharingan, who is this?"
"My little brother, Sasuke Uchiha." Itachi said, filling his partner in.
With rage evident, Sasuke started channelling chakra into his hand and the hallways was illuminated with blue light as a chidori was formed, chirping away for all to hear. Itachi stared at his little brother with intent. Sasuke rushed forward, letting the jutsu graze against the wall.
Itachi meanwhile, watched the flight of the jutsu, reached out and caught Sasuke's arm that was holding the jutsu with the upmost of ease, rendering the attack useless. In a quick motion, he used force on the forearm of Sasuke, snapping it, a loud crack audible for Naruto to hear.
Naruto started channelling his chakra, knowing that he was going to have to get all the help he could on this one. He knew that Sobek wouldn't want to join him just yet but he hoped that Krool would.
Right as he was about to use the summoning jutsu, Naruto found his chakra simply vanish. Looking up in shock, he saw the sword of the blue skinned man, pointing right at him.
Luckily for Naruto and all the Konoha shinobi involved, it was at this time that Jiraiya arrived. "You two can leave now. You will not be getting your goal today." Jiraiya stated with all the presence that a Hokage would have. His voice booming through the halls of the motel.
"I see, so that's how Kakashi knew what we were after." Itachi replied. He had never really had much to deal with the man but knew of him being a master information gatherer.
"If you don't leave now, I will kill the two of you right here." Jiraiya stated. Gone from his voice was the jovial tone that Ino had always heard from the man. She was seeing for the first time, the reason why Jiraiya got his reputation. It was surprising to say the least but she was incredibly thankful. Reassured, her face showed an ounce more of confidence.
"Don't get in my way!" Sasuke shouted as he staggered from the ground. His broken arm hanging limply from his shoulder. Ino took this time to walk out of the room and survey the situation, causing Itachi, Kisame and Jiraiya to all glance in her direction, before turning their attention back to Sasuke.
"The only person that is going to kill Itachi! Is ME!" Sasuke shouted with rage as he ran to punch Itachi. All strategy went out the window as he was consumed by rage. There was only one person in the world which could elicit this kind of response from Sasuke.
The elder brother dodged the attack with ease before kneeing Sasuke in the stomach, once again causing a cracking sound to occur. Blood spouted from the mouth of Sasuke, hinting at more damage. He then pinned him up against the wall by his throat and stared into his eyes. The sharingan quickly morphed into the Mangekyo Sharingan.
x-X-x
Once all the dust was settled on what had just happened, with Gai having taken Sasuke back to the village, Jiraiya ordered the trio to leave immediately. Jiraiya was not going to let it be known to the other two, but it was a wakeup call. He needed to take this with more concern and intent.
"So I think I speak for both Naruto and I when I ask, what the hell was that? And you surely know something Jiraiya-sensei. They were after Naruto! What could someone like Itachi Uchiha possibly want with Naruto!?" Ino questioned, concern evident in her tone.
She had enjoyed getting to know this new Naruto since the chunin exams where they fought together against Gaara.
"Yeah. What the hell was all that about old man. Itachi said that you told Kakashi?" Naruto was getting the feeling this was like all of those other times, where there were secrets that everyone else knew about him and he didn't. It was not pleasant. Displeasure was evident on his face which Jiraiya picked up on.
"Those two shinobi, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are a part of a mercenary group of ninjas, all of them are S-ranked." At this point, both Ino sucked in her breath. Naruto didn't know the significance of it. "They have a goal which involves nine things, although I am not sure what their plans are to do with it."
The Uzumaki's eyes widened as he got what Jiraiya was hinting at. Anger filtered over his face before thankfulness. The Uzumaki realised that Jiraiya worded it in a way so that Naruto could understand first, before Ino found out. A sliver of relief filled Naruto with his frown no longer being as intense.
"That makes no sense! What are these nine things?" She all but wondered. It would have to be something really important to be able to get that many ridiculously high powered ninjas together for a common goal.
"It's up to you kid." Jiraiya purposefully looked at Naruto. This was his call to make as far as the Toad Sannin was concerned.
Naruto's eyes shot up, pressure filled him as he struggled to think about what he was going to say. She did see me fight Gaara when I used the chakra and she hasn't hit me like Sakura did. It was rudimentary thinking and Naruto knew that eventually people from his generation would find out. At least this way, he would be able to control the narrative. Ino had given him more positive attention in the past week than he had from Sakura ever. Hope filled the blonde, wishing that he was not putting his faith in the wrong place.
"They're after me." Every single word Naruto said with trepidation, Ino took as law. She could see the hurt in his eyes and on his face as Naruto spoke. "The nine tailed beasts can't be killed. They can only be sealed. The fourth Hokage had to seal it in someone and he chose me." Naruto did his best to put on a small smile, however, the Yamanaka saw right through it. The smile didn't reach his eyes as Ino gave Naruto her full attention and was reading everything about the boy's facial expression and body language.
"Ohhh, is that why everyone treated you bad as a kid?" Ino questioned as her mind raced, noticing the way how Naruto was hunched over, pulled back and fidgeting with his fingers. His whole body language screamed nervous and scared. Ino could only imagine what Naruto was going through right now. So much was making sense now. It was like the missing puzzle piece into numerous thoughts she had had growing up. The sneers, the snide remarks behind his back that she had briefly heard and questioned slightly before focusing on what she was originally doing. Also, the fact that everyone told the kids at school to avoid Naruto.
"Yeah, I guess those pranks didn't really help though dattebayo." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head nervously. His palms were sweaty and his heart was beating faster than it did during the fight with Gaara. Somehow, just talking was worse than a life or death fight for the Uzumaki.
"And how do you feel about that?" Ino questioned which Naruto was thrown for a loop. He was expecting questions along the line of how it would affect Ino, and if the Kyubi could take over, was it dangerous to Konoha. He was not expecting a question like this. Jiraiya too was listening intently with clenched fists. He wanted to hear more about his godson's feelings.
"Well to be honest, it fucking sucks. I hate it but there is nothing that I can do about it and nothing is going to happen if I complain about it." The frown that was on the face of Naruto grew and his eyes clenched shut. Naruto didn't intend to show his anger and frustration at the situation, it just came out. Ino had provided a safe space for Naruto to feel comfortable and not judged when sharing his raw emotions.
"It's shaped me into who I am today and I'm strong because of it." He hated talking about his feelings as it just left him confused, angry, sad and questioning a lot of memories that had desperately been pushed to the back of his mind. Every time he thought that he had moved on from them, they kept coming back with a vengeance.
Ino's heart went out to her genin colleague and friend. She could see the pain on Naruto's face when he spoke and all through his body language. Without a thought as to how it might look or be perceived, the Yamanaka reached over and enveloped Naruto in a hug. Shock filled Naruto's system as he didn't know what to do. Jiraiya who was looking on couldn't help but marvel at what he was witnessing. Seeing the way that his student of the past month had relaxed and reassured his godson whilst he was talking about his trauma filled his heart with happiness.
"What was that for?" Naruto questioned with a skittish look on his face, not sure how to process a hug. He had hardly ever received one of those, especially from a girl.
"What!?" Ino replied as she got defensive, not knowing why Naruto was put off about something as small as a hug.
"Why did you do that?" Naruto questioned with hesitation evident in his voice and face.
Seeing the fear in Naruto's face broke Ino and her heart went out to him… To think that he got so nervous and defensive over a hug… "Wow that's inspiring. You're a really strong person Naruto-kun, and not just jutsu wise. I doubt the majority of people would have been able to endure what you have been through." She earnestly stated, unknowingly leaning towards Naruto as she said it. Jiraiya wholeheartedly agreed.
The Uzumaki was uncomfortable to say the least. He had never received compliments before and had no idea on what to do. "haha, anyone would have done what I did in my position." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous laugh.
Ino shook her head. "No, I know a lot of people who, if they were in your position, would have not coped anywhere near as well. Take Gaara for example." She could not forget the memory of the red haired boy and thought that Naruto wouldn't be able to either. A fresh example of someone completely different.
Naruto blushed bright red but couldn't take his eyes off of Ino, demanding eye contact. She could see the raw, unfiltered emotion Naruto had and it was intense and confronting. She didn't know giving a couple of compliments to Naruto would cause him to look at her like that. "Thank you Ino-Chan." Naruto settled for as he didn't know how to properly thank her for what she had said. No one in his age range had ever been this nice to him before.
"You're welcome Naruto." Ino replied with a smile on her face, happy that Naruto felt comfortable enough to talk to her about all of this. Her light blue eyes couldn't help but look at Naruto in a new light. She had so much more admiration and respect for the boy in front of her. There is so much more to you, isn't there Naruto Uzumaki?
x-X-x
After the dust had settled on the fight with the Akatsuki, Ino found herself with some alone time and finally had the chance to process the other side of the fight which she had yet to. Only now, with the fight over was she able to process the way her crush Sasuke acted.
It scared her. The look of hatred and the rage, with the way he spoke. It scared her. It scared Ino Yamanaka a lot. This wasn't the cool, dark and handsome Sasuke that she knew. That was someone so completely hell bent on murdering his brother.
Ino couldn't help but compare Sasuke Uchiha to Naruto Uzumaki and notice how similar their childhoods were.
Both of them had tough childhoods where they had to suffer and go through a lot. Yet, look at the way they changed. Naruto is really kind to people, even if he is an obnoxious attention seeker whereas Sasuke was always mean to people, to me.
It left the blonde with a lot to think about.