Yellow Thread

by LovelyTouch

A Red Thread connected Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. Now watch as a Yellow Thread connects Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka.

2. Chapter 2: A New Team

Warning: Be ready for a very hateful Sasuke.

Chapter 2: A New Team

"... And Ino Yamanaka!" Iruka finished.

Naruto repeatedly slammed his forehead onto the table.

Ino however was rather relieved to hear that she was going to be in the same team as Sasuke, so much so that she yelled out

"Oh yeah!"

Naruto however continued with slamming his forehead on his table.

'I guess I was wrong' Naruto thought.

After Iruka called Team 8 however, Naruto stuck his head up.

"Team 8 will be, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame" Iruka called.

"Oh come on!" Naruto grabbed onto his table and yelled it out. "Can I switch for one of the other member of Team 8 that isn't Hinata!?"

"No Naruto, you cannot! You and Sasuke have the highest scores in the classroom in studies and training, so that's why you're together! Iruka loudly explained.

"Well then why isn't Hinata on our team, we're the two highest ranked boys so wouldn't it make sense to also include the highest ranked girl!?" Naruto loudly asked.

"Normally that would be true Naruto. But this isn't a normal time and so we decided to have you and Sasuke be paired up with the second highest ranked girl in the class!" Iruka explained.

Naruto widened his eyes and with a quieter voice, asked Iruka

"Ino's the second highest ranked girl in class?"

Iruka simply nodded.

Naruto simply decided to lay his head down on the desk and wait for the last teams to be called.

"Team 10, Sakura Haruno, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara" Iruka called. "Wait for your Jonin sensei to escort you out of the room and lead you to your training grounds."

After hours of waiting Team 7 was the only team left in the class. Naruto simply decided to rest, Sasuke didn't care, and Ino was trying to flirt with Sasuke. However, after just a bit longer, their Jonin sensei came through the door.

"Hello, I'm your Jonin Sensei Kakashi, meet me at at the rooftops" was all the man said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"Works for me" Naruto said while stretching and walking out of the room to reach the rooftops, with Ino and Sasuke following suit.

(Rooftops)

Once Team 7 arrived at the rooftops they sat down on the steps and waited for their Jonin Sensei to speak. And after a bit he finally did.

"Now thay you Three are here I figure it would be best if you introduced yourselves. Talk about stuff you like, stuff you hate, goals, hobbies, you get the idea."

Naruto decided to speak up

"Why don't you show is how its done?"

Kakashi fixed his mask and said

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I like a lot of things, I don't feel like telling you what I hate, I have lots of hobbies, and goals I haven't thought of that. Alright, now your turn Whiskers ."

'But you only told us your name!' Naruto thought.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like my friend Hinata, Ramen, and training. I hate not being able to spend time with Hinata, how long it takes to make Ramen, and not being able to train"

'He listed Hinata first both times. So Hinata really is important to him?' Thought Ino.

"Alright, how about you, the other blond?" Asked Kakashi.

"Oh I'm Ino Yamanaka. I like cute boys, gossiping, and love Sasuke Uchiha. I hate boys who get in my way, girls who get in my way (For girls she means get in the way of her chances with Sasuke. For boys she means get in the way due to constantly asking her out), and not being able to gossip" Ino explained.

'Wouldn't expect any less' Naruto sarcastically thought.

"Okay now you, Mr. emo kid!" Kakashi said while gesturing for Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and don't really like anything. My goal is to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone" Sasuke confessed.

'I feel really bad for Sasuke due to him going through what I have. But I hope he doesn't let this obsession of killing his older brother drive him into insanity' Naruto wondered.

"Well with that outta the way I guess we can drive straight into the main course. There is gonna be another test to decide whether or not you can become a Genin. So meet me in Training Grounds 7 to take the test tomorrow. Oh and don't eat anything" Kakashi said with his eye smile before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

'I know what that means' Naruto thought.

After listening to Ino ramble on and on to Sasuke about jow much wants him, Naruto decided to break the annoying conversation. So he walked up to Ino and told her

"I would recommend you don't listen to Kakashi-Sensei. Have breakfast and judging by his tardiness from this day, make it reasonably sized."

Ino simply laughed hard and held her sides. After a while however, she calmed down and asked Naruto

"And why are you telling me that, do you have a crush on me Naruto?" She winked at the end.

Naruto blushed a bit out of embarrassment and told Ino

"Just shut up, if you weren't gonna listen then you just had yo say it."

Ino saw Naruto's blush but didn't think much of it at the time. I stead she just immediately told Naruto

"I'll only do it if Sasuke-Kun does." She the. turned around and asked Sasuke "Will you Sasuke-Kun?"

Sasuke simply looked the other way without making any noise.

"Well there you have it, no" Ino said with a mocking grin.

"Whatever" was all Naruto said before walking away.

(With Naruto)

Once Naruto was out of sight from Ino and Sasuke, he decided that since Hiruzen couldn't train him today and Hinata was still with her team possibly, that he should just walk around the streets of Konoha. People still called him names, but he stopped caring a long time ago.

'Pests' Naruto thought as he noticed the stares the people were giving him.

He continued on walking, untill reaching the top of The Stone Faces of the past Hokages. Once he got there, he brought out some Ramen that he was hoping to share with Hinata if they were in the same team. But since they weren't, he ate one and left the other one untouched.

'Tomorrow is a bell test isn't it?' Naruto thought.

"Hey, you there, are you gonna eat that?" Asked an unfamiliar voice from behind Naruto.

Naruto turned around and once he saw who said that, he concurred that he didn't know this person, but he simply said/asked

"No, would you like it?"

"That would be nice" the person then sat down and ate the untouched Ramen. "So, what's your name?'

"Naruto Uzumaki, what's your name?" Naruto answered/asked.

"Rock Lee" the person answered.

"Ahh I've heard of you from Hokage Jiji, you're the kid that's getting really far as a ninja with only Taijutsu" Naruto said.

"Yeah, that's me" Rock Lee admitted. "And you're the kid that's been getting training from The Third Hokage himself."

"Yeah, you got me" Naruto admitted.

"Hey wanna have a sparring match, me and you, you are strong aren't you?" Rock Lee asked.

"I am strong and as for a sparring match, sure, why not?" Naruto asked.

"Okay, get ready!" Rock Lee shouted after jumping back several feet away.

Naruto got into his own stance and told Lee

"Ready!"

Then, they clashed. Both of them were only using Taijutsu in this match (Naruto wanted to see how good Lee's Taijutsu was), but the weight difference (They were the same height) was impacting their hits (Naruto's sweater was covering his incredible physique. Naruto was 130 lbs and Lee was 104lbs).

Naruto went for a strong left jab and Lee went for a heel kick, both hit only for Naruto to gain the advantage.

Naruto quickly followed this up with a barrage of punches and kicks aimed directly at Lee's Torso. And after sending Lee flying with a strong right hand, Naruto stepped back and got back into his stance.

Lee saw Naruto and knew that this wasn't gonna be easy, but he kept going at it.

Naruto gained the upper hand through every clash and once Lee realized this he knew he had lose the weights if he had any hope of winning, seeing as although Naruto was bulkier than him, he was also faster. So Lee jumped far back a d started to take hid weights off.

Naruto saw Lee trying to take his weights off and decided that since this wasn't a fight to the death, that he should just let Lee do as he wishes.

'Ok good, this isn't his fastest' Naruto thought. "Alright, if you're gonna fight at full power, so will I!"

Naruto then stopped holding back on his speed but still his power, then proceeded to maul Lee in speed and power.

Lee was in grave danger, he couldn't land one hit on Naruto at all only using brute force, but using his brain, with perfect timing, he landed one good hit on Naruto.

The hit that landed on Naruto didn't really seem to affect Naruto in any way. so Naruto simply got back to his assault on Lee. After one full second (Half the time of his original assault), Lee was out cold, and Naruto stopped. After waiting a bit, Naruto saw that Lee was getting back up, then helped him up. Once he was fully up, Naruto decided to speak with Lee.

"Hey, those weight of yours, do they work?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well yeah, you saw it" Lee replied.

"Alright, I know what to do now" said Naruto before running off to The Hokage Tower (Naruto was running at a regular human rate, not wanting to cause any disturbance or problems in The Leaf).

Lee thought back to their fight and said

"He sure is fast, but I guess I'll just have to work harder in order to catch up to him."

(With Ino)

After Ino and Sasuke parted ways, Ino walked to her house. A while after she began walking, she saw her parents Inoichi and Noriko (I saw and read that Ino's mother was actually a woman named Noriko after uploading the latest chapter to Young/Old Heroism. So I'm definitely going to change her Mother's name in Young/Old Heroism, mainly because not even I liked the name I gave her, I just randomly thought of it). So she followed then since they were waving for her to follow them.

After just a few steps though, she entered a familiar dark forrest, and she noticed something about her parents that didn't seem right. Her parents had an unusual smile and kept waving at her to follow them without really changing their facial appearance. But she didn't pay that any mind since they were her parents. So she followed them but was then subdued by the parents she saw.

"Alright the Yamanaka is ours!" One of the henged Iwa Ninja shouted. After this call was made, Thirteen other Iwa anbu came out from the trees.

"I know, thankfully they didn't send Fodder (Whenever I type Fodder or someone says it, it always means compared to the person they faced, noy that they were just straight up fodder to any Ninja. And in this case, those Iwa Ninja were fodder compared to Naruto, despite being Elites) Anbu like last time" One smug Anbu said

There were Fifteen Anbu, they each had very high ranking in the Anbu Force, and were at least Twenty-Nine Years Old.

As they began tying her up, she began screaming for help, only to be silenced by a punch to the mouth from One of the Anbu, who then taped her mouth shut and tied her up.

'Please, whoever you were, save me!' Ino begged inwardly 'Wait a minute, my hair!' And like last time, she began taking some of her hair off her head with her hand, and placed it on the ground in order to leave a trail.

"Man, I'm just glad this isn't a Hyuga, because I know about what happened years ago" said the Anbu that had Ino strapped to his back as he was jumping through the Forrest.

'What are they talking about' Ino thought with tears in her eyes that she was being kidnapped again.

"Yeah, it's crazy to think that a little boy was capable of killing an Anbu from Kumo, with much difficulty of course but still. The worst part was that since he was a little kid, there was nothing that the Raikage could do against him (That was after one day from training with Hiruzen! Follow my Naruto managed to kill the Kumo Ninja)" said one of the other Anbu.

"What was his name again?" asked a different Anbu.

"I think his name was" this Anbu didn't get to finish though, because a Kunai hit him right through the neck to the throat.

Everyone stopped to look around them.

"Who's there!? They yelled in unison.

'Is it him?' Asked Ino inwardly.

A simple yellow blur appeared in front of the Iwa ninja, then took the clothes and mask of their fallen comrade. That same blur appeared in front of them (and while cracking his knuckles, said

"Put Ino down and nobody gets hurt."

(Earlier With Naruto)

Naruto was simply walking through the village after getting a bite to eat at Ichiraku Ramen. As he was walking around he saw a familiar looking Forrest and thought

'I wonder jf that's the same Forrest I rescued Ino from?'

He soon got his answer when he walked up to bushes near the Forrest and saw traces of Blonde hair on the ground.

'Oh no!' He inwardly yelled before dashing forward as quickly and quietly as possible. 'Ino don't be afraid, I'll save you again!'

(Back To The Present)

'It is him!' Ino inwardly shouted joyfully.

The Anbu laughed then yelled

"What are you gonna do Genius!? it's Fourteen on One and we're all Eli!" That Iwa Ninja didn't get to finish either, for he too was stabbed through the throat.

"Better make that Thirteen" Naruto said confidently.

'I believe in him, he saved me once and I know he will do it again!' Ino thought.

"Better teach this kid some manners, ey fellas" one of the Anbu said while cracking his knuckles, with the others following suit after hearing him.

Naruto was not dazed at all by this action though, and instead, with a deep voice, he said

"Let's see if you can find me."

Then jumped away into the trees and bushes. Which was better because it was night time, just like last time.

"Alright, Six of you, go inside the woods to search for him whilst us Seven wait here for him, in order to strike!" The Anbu carrying Ino commanded.

The others nodded and did just as they were told.

Ino wasn't worried in the least bit, she knew her saviour would save her again just like last time. And she knew that she was right. Because after multiple seconds, she heard multiple slashes and screams that didn't sound like her hero. And it was all made even more abundantly clear when the dead bodies of the Iwa Ninja were sent flying from the woods they entered.

"What the hell!?" the Seven other Iwa Ninja yelled.

"Bad move on your part. Since they were in an extremely dark field that was easy for me to detect, I was able to put them in Genjutsu, and slice them up without being detected by any of them" Naruto explained in a mocking tone

Ino's confidence in her saviour, grew even more when she heard and saw this. She already had unrelenting trust in her hero, but this solidified it.

"Damn, form a circle around me, wait for this kid, then strike when he least expects it!" Ordered the carrier of Ino.

That was another bad mistake, because since Naruto was blindingly fast for them, they could so much as see fists flying until actually being hit by them. Eventually though, after getting their act together, the seven Iwa Ninja guarding the carrier of Ino managed to land good hits on Naruto as he was travelling to them.

These strikes hurt Naruto a lot more than Lee or anyone else (Except Hiruzen) ever hurt him. But he shook it off and got back to his Guerilla Warfare tactic. Eventually, he stopped with his pure punches and decided to cut. So he brought out his Kunai and with his speed, grabbed each of the Anbu, One by One, and dragged them to the woods where he would stab them to death (He snatched the Anbu to the bushes to kill them because once again, he didn't want to traumatize Ino anymore than she already was).

"Damnit, show yourself!" Yelled the leader (And arrived of Ino) of the Anbu.

'Thank you so much masked Man!' Ino inwardly shouted in relief.

Naruto stepped out of the trees and while panting said

"I'll give you credit *Pant* you're much stronger *Pant* than the Fodder I had to deal with *Pant* years ago. So I'll settle this with you, right here, right now!"

"Deal. But how about we take off our masks, that way, we can fight at our fullest without having to worry about stamina issues? Not counting the stamina you already lost from earlier of course" said the Iwa Anbu Leader.

"No can do" replied Naruto. "I'll beat you this way."

'Why not?' Ino asked Naruto in thought.

"Now I'm confused, why don't you wanna remove your mask?" Asked the Iwa Anbu Leader.

Naruto simply pointed at Ino and said

"She's the reason."

'What did I do, please forgive me, I just wanna see your face!' Ino apologized inwardly.

"If she did something that won't allow you to show your face to her, then why are you saving her?" Asked the masked Anbu.

'Wait a minute he's right' Ino thought.

'Simple, she's a comrade, and like I said before, when it's a comrade, your body just kinda reacts" Naruto replied.

"Yeah well, I don't care, show me your face, or I'll kill her right here and now!" The man replied while bringing the Kunai closer to Ino's throat.

Ino let out a single tear and began praying that her hero will be able to save her again.

"Why do you wanna see my face so much?" Naruto asked.

"Not just your face, I wanna know your name too. And it's simple, you took down a fully trained Kumo Anbu at an even younger age. I simply wanna be the one to kill this Prodigy, as well as be able to detail his change of appearance as I killed him, and reveal his name. Now, get to it" The masked man yelled the last part out while beginning to drag the Kunai slowly across Ino's throat.

Ino once again, began crying from the thought of not being saved by this hero of her's, but was happy beyond words when she heard him say

"Fine. You win, I'll show you my face and reveal to you my name."

Ino's heart was racing beyond regular after realizing she'll finally be able to find out who this saviour of her's is.

"But place her under a Genjutsu, so she won't hear or see me" said Naruto.

Ino was disappointed at realizing that once again, she would be denied her Saviour's identity.

"No! I don't care if you have a grudge against her or not, you will show me now!" The Iwa Anbu yelled while proceeding to drag the Kunai across Ino's throat.

Naruto simply huffed and yelled

"Fine!"

So he reached for the back of his mask and unhooked the straps connecting them.

Once he did that, the Iwa Anbu Leader started separating his Kunai from Ino's throat and looked on.

Ino did the same after realizing exactly what was happening.

'Who are you?' Was on the minds of both Ino and the masked man.

Naruto removed the mask entirely with his head downcast. He then pointed at Ino and said

"Let her go and show me your face."

The man simply smirked and mockingly asked Naruto

"Why would I do that, if you haven't shown me your own face?

Naruto clenched his fist in anger, but did what he needed to and lifted his face.

"There you go" said the masked man smugly, before throwing Ino to the ground.

Ino wasn't able to see her hero's face due to keeping her eyes closed in order to brace herself for whatever happened. But once she was thrown to the ground, she was caught by her hero who asked her

"Are you okay Ino?"

Ino opened her eyes and saw her hero, face to face. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was indeed Naruto, the same boy she never let forget was inferior to her Sasuke-Kun. So she stammered

"N-N-Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto blushed at Ino's use of that honorific, but brushed it off, and stepped in front of her. Then, while shielding her with his arms, he said

"No time to explain Ino, I recommend you get as far away from here as possible though, because if you don't, you'll get hurt."

Ino saw Naruto in an entirely different way. And she couldn't help but say

"I'm not gonna" only to be interrupted by Naruto who said

"Like last time, if you stay you'll only get in my way!"

Ino knew it was coming and although she didn't want to, she did as she was told, and tried to leave Naruto to fight the Anbu captain alone, but was halted by the Masked Man.

Naruto through pure fear for Ino's safety went in front of her and shielded her while saying

"Alright, just stay close to me" Naruto ordered Ino.

'Naruto-Kun is worried about me' Ino thought.

"Now you, reveal yourself!" Naruto yelled the last part while pointing at the man.

"Sure thing" the man then began unstrapping his mask and let it fall to the ground. "Since I know your first name is Naruto because of that girl, I'll tell you my full name. I am Dre Kamizuru, The Second highest Elite Anbu of Iwa. I have taken many lives, especially during the war between our Villages. Whether it be from high ranked Shinobi without a clan or other ones from clans, like the Hyuga, Inuzuka, or Akimichi in this village. Or how about from wars with other villages, Kiri and Yukigakure, where I took the lives of clan people from the Terumi and Yuki."

"Well I'll tell you what, I'm the last known member of the Uzumaki Clan. So if you kill me right here, right now, then you'll have officially extinguished one Clan alone" Naruto explained. "But if I kill you, then I'm stronger than somebody who's lived much longer than me and that has killed many Clan members in his past, while I myself am tired and worn out."

Dre simply grinned and said

"Get ready."

'I believe in you Naruto-Kun!' Ino shouted inwardly.

Naruto got into his stance and then, both clashed. They weighed the same so their connecting punch delivered the same amount of damage to them both. But then both brought out Kunai and started trying to slash each other.

Naruto threw a right cross stab, but Dre blocked it with a Kunai uppercut. Dre went for a knee to the stomach since he ad a clear opening from their position, but Naruto front flipped behind him, grabbed his Kunai by the hilt, and thrusted it backwards, successfully stabbing Dre in a Rib.

Dre fell back in pain, but brought out his other Kunai, and threw it at Naruto. Naruto dodged the Kunai and rushed at Dre with full speed.

Dre used his full speed to dodge and block all of Naruto's incoming blows, whether they were his punches, kicks, or stabs. Eventually, both brought out a Kunai and brought their Kunai from left to right, then stopped, for they had stalemated each other (They both had their Kunai mere inches away from the other's throat). They separated their Kunai from each other's throat and looked each other in the eyes. Dre then began laughing.

Naruto was confused and asked him

"What's so funny?"

Dre calmed down and answered with

"At such a young age you're already stronger than the Third Tsuchikage."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"My squad is equal to The Third Tsuchikage, while I am stronger than The Third Tsuchikage, yet some how you managed to kill all my men and stalemate with me" Dre explained.

Naruto and Ino's eyes widened at that point. They didn't realize how strong he was up until that point in time.

'Wow Jiji sure is no joke when it comes to training someone is he?' Naruto thought.

'I knew he was strong, but I didn't know he was that strong!" Ino thought.

Naruto shook off the confusion and raised his Kunai, Dre did the same, and once again, they clashed with lots of struggle from both sides.

During the struggle, Ino shook off the confusion, and actually told Naruto

"You can win Naruto-Kun, I know you can!"

Those words were heard by Naruto and he took them to heart. He looked Dre right in the eyes, raised his left leg, and kicked him away.

Dre glared at Naruto after the kick and threw his Kunai.

Naruto blocked it by throwing his own Kunai, which freed his hands and allowed him to use Jutsu. So as soon as the Kunai left his hands he made his favorite hand sign and called out

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!

Five extra Naruto appeared on the battlefield, threw about Ten Shuriken each, made another hand sign, and called out

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

Dre saw what was coming, made his own hand signs and called out

"Jinton!"

After the Jutsu was called, a clear three dimensional cube was formed. The Shuriken all hit this and became useless as the originals hit the floor and the Kage Bunshins dispelled.

Dre then pulled this cube back and threw it at Naruto. The cube hit Naruto directly and sent him flying into multiple trees, ripping them from their roots, due to the impact.

Ino immediately screamed in a worried voice

"NARUTO-KUN!"

And was about a run over to Naruto, untill seeing him running back over to them with a huge hole behind and in front of his Orange Sweater. He was panting a bit due to the damage dealt from the attack, but not too much. He shook it off and said

"Not bad, but how about you try this!"

Naruto immediately gathered Fūton Chakra and after gathering enough, he called out

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

This one was different then most though. Mainly due to the fact that after the call was made and large amounts of wind began to gather. The release of it that Naruto let out, ended up destroying the side of the Forrest that he was aiming at.

Dre got back up after a bit and dusted himself off (Naruto couldn't see him because he was hot so hard that he did a huge right turn and was out of sight) , he then brought out his Kunai and surrounded it in the Jinton he began gathering. After just a few seconds he had Two Kunai on each hand surrounded in Jinton Chakra.

He then used all the speed he had and rushed to where Naruto was.

"You beat him Naruto-Kun!" Cheered Ino as she got up and hugged him.

Naruto blushed, but knew that the fight wasn't over (He could detect Dre and saw him coming right at him). So he pulled Ino closer to his body and brought out a Kunai of his own while shouting

"Stay close Ino!"

'Naruto-Kun, his body, it's so... Warm yet strong' Ino thought in bliss.

Dre came, pierced through Naruto's Kunai with his own, and ended up stabbing Naruto in the shoulder.

Once the Kunai made contact, Naruto jumped back and held Ino even closer to his body.

"I won't let you take Ino!" He yelled.

"Why's that, do you love her by any chance?" mockingly asked Dre.

"No, and I doubt that she has any kind of feeling for me. But like I said against the first Anbu that came to take her! She's a comrade, so I won't let her get killed by anyone!" Naruto announced.

"So you'd really risk your life for this worthless girl who doesn't even appreciate you, or has any uses in or out of the battlefield? Stupid Kid!" Dre yelled the last part while diving in to attack Naruto.

Naruto held Ino with one arm and brought out some Shuriken with the other. He then through those Shuriken with some Fūton Chakra in order to try to match the Jinton Kunai. It didn't work however and Naruto was sent flying after getting stabbed (Uppercut Style) and was launched high above the ground.

Naruto had a large gash from his left hip leading to his right shoulder. But with watery eyes, he looked at Ino, and noticed that she was holding onto him much tighter than before. He saw that she had a worried look on her face and with groans of pain, he said

"Don't worry Ino, I'll protect you, don't worry about it."

Ino opened her eyes, looked at her hero, and asked him

"You promise?"

Naruto looked her in the eyes and still with groans of pain said

"I promise."

Neither of them noticed that Dre was right above them. Naruto couldn't react fast enough to fully avoid (He protected Ino by but not himself) Dre's move and was once again stabbed but this time across his back (Because he pulled Ino closer to his body and turned around in order to protect her). The stab ended up completely destroying the last piece of fabric connecting Naruto's sweater and launched him from the sky all the way to the ground. Before he reached the ground however, he turned again so that his back crashed against the ground, which created a large crater.

"NARUTO-KUN, ARE YOU OKAY!" Ino screamed in worry.

"I'm *Wheeze* fine Ino *Wheeze* just run" Naruto groaned softly.

"But" Ino started.

"You're only getting *Wheeze*" Naruto started.

Ino with tears in her eyes finished Naruto's sentence by saying

"In your way."

Naruto nodded and Ino reluctantly began leaving the battlefield.

'Why am I so weak!?' Ino yelled inwardly while crying her eyes out.

Meanwhile, Dre was stalking towards Naruto with a look insanity in his eyes. Then once he was right in front of Naruto, he smiled, and said

"Well, looks like I win. And gone is the Uzumaki Clan!"

He then once again applied Jinton into both his Kunai and swung them down, aiming directly at Naruto's heart and throat. But then

"Enough!"

Naruto yelled after grabbing both hands of Dre.

"What the hell!?" Dre shouted in question.

Naruto's grip was unbreakable to Dre. He tried retracting his hands, but it didn't work and then, Naruto (With Chakra Enhanced Hands) twisted Dre's hands until they broke.

"AHHH!" Dre screamed in agony of having his wrists snapped and of course dropped his Jinton laced Kunai.

Naruto quickly took advantage of this and after making his favorite hand sign called out

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

Immediately Fifty Narutos appeared, pulled out Two Kunai in each hand, and laced it with Chakra. Then all Fifty One Narutos lunged at Dre with a full powered thrust in their Chakra Kunai.

Dre couldn't even make Hand Signs due to his hands having been snapped and was completely defenseless when all the Narutos came and stabbed him in the Heart, Throat, Ribs, and Brain. After all the stabs were made, Dre's body fell limp on the ground, dead.

Meanwhile, Naruto dispelled all his Clones and fell to the ground (Face First). He then turned his head and in a raspy voice, he said

"I did it, I won."

Before falling unconsciousness.

(An Hour Later)

"There he is!" Ino shouted while pointing at Naruto's lifeless body. "NARUTO-KUN!"

Ino, Hiruzen, and the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio arrived. They saw Naruto's lifeless body, then Chouza picked him up, and took him to The Konoha Hospital.

After more Hours passed, Naruto opened his eyes, and saw that he was in the hospital.

"What the, why am I here, and why is she here?" Naruto asked as he turned his head and saw that Ino was on his left side, sleeping (She was sitting on a chair on the left side of the hospital bed and was leaning down on the bed, sleeping). He brought himself up and stretched. After cracking several Bones, he tried to get out of bed, but was stopped by Ino (Ino heard the bedroom creaking and woke up) who hugged him as if for dear life and cheeringly shouted

"You're awake and alive Naruto-Kun!"

Naruto blushed in embarrassment from being addressed by that honorific from Ino, as he was only used to being called that by Hinata. But he shook it off and asked/said

"Ino would you let me go? My wounds aren't completely healed yet."

"Oh right!" Ino said in embarrassment. "Wait then why are you getting up?"

"Because I know I'll feel better next thing tomorrow morning, I just need to go home first. Especially since we have that test with Kakashi-Sensei" Naruto explained.

"It's okay Naruto-Kun, just rest here until you feel better. I'll talk to Kakashi-Sensei about your injuries, he'll excuse you, I'm sure of it" Ino assured him.

"No, I'm not gonna let these injuries stop me from competing in this test that Kakashi-Sensei' is gonna give me. Because if I don't even participate in this test then to me, that means that I don't deserve to be Genin" Naruto said in a raspy voice.

Ino could see the determination in Naruto's eyes and said

"Okay Naruto-Kun, I understand."

But as Naruto was about to leave the room, he was stopped by Ino, who grabbed onto his back.

"Ino, what are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto-Kun, even though you don't wanna stay here, can you stay here for me?" Ino asked.

"Absolutely not Ino" Naruto said in a tone that left no room for debate.

Ino knew that this would be his reply, since she never really did anything to make Naruto say yes, but she still wanted to try. She wanted to sleep in the same room as Naruto, because now, Naruto made her feel safe and warm. So she asked him again but this time with puppy dog eyes

"Please Naruto-Kun?"

"No Ino, and quit calling me by that honorific, you should save it for your precious Sasuke-Kun." Naruto said as he removed Ino's hands from his body and left through the window, via Shunshin.

'He doesn't want me to call him Kun?' Ino sadly thought.

(The Next Day, With Naruto)

Naruto woke up but didn't feel as good as he thought he would. He still had aching pains across his body, but was able to tough it out long enough for him to change (Naruto was now wearing a Orange Long Sleeve Shirt and Blue Jeans), have breakfast, and make it to the Training Grounds, via Shunshin. He then proceeded to wait for his teammates along with his Sensei to arrive.

'I knew he would take long, and I know for a fact that this is a bell test' Naruto thought.

So he waited until finally, Ino and Sasuke came.

"Naruto-Kun!" Ino squealed in delight before rushing over to Naruto in order to hug him.

'Did she just call him Kun?' Sasuke thought.

Naruto stepped back from Ino's hug and said

"I thought I told you to drop that Honorific?"

"Well even though you did, I still wanna call you that" Ino said with a smile.

"So Two Blondes are having a moment" Sasuke said.

"Shut up Sasuke!" Yelled both Ino and Naruto in unison.

Both blushed (Ino because she said the same thing as the boy that she was starting to fall for and Naruto because Ino didn't call Sasuke by the Honorific she was calling him and she also told Sasuke to shut up), Naruto looked away, but Ino just stared on.

"Well, Naruto-Kun, I did as you wanted me to" Ino said, trying to gain Naruto's attention.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Breakfast, I had breakfast" she said.

"Good for you, now all we have to do is wait for Kakashi-Sensei" Naruto said in an uncaring voice.

Ino felt hurt that Naruto was trying to avoid conversation with her, so she tried getting him to speak to her while waiting for Kakashi. But she kept failing over and over again and then Kakashi made his appearance.

"Well here you guys are, very early" Kakashi said.

Naruto angrily said

"Actually your just late Kakashi-Sensei, we've been waiting so long that I could hear Sasuke's stomach continuously growling nonstop for the past Hours."

"Ahh, well I guess we should just get started on the test then" Kakashi said with his famous eye smile.

After a long explanation of the test works, the test began. And Naruto immediately went on the offensive by fighting Kakashi alone.

Ino wanted to help Naruto, but kept thinking about what Naruto kept telling her both times he saved her, that she will only get in the way. She then clenched her fist and inwardly swore

'I swear that I will become strong, so that I will no longer be a liability to Naruto-Kun! And will be able to help him should the time come!'

Kakashi and Naruto seemed to be neck and neck (Both were giving it their all at that point in time and in this story Naruto received a lot more training from Hiruzen tha in Young/Old Heroism. But since he hasn't fully healed, he is equal to Kakashi) in skill and also neither would back down. It wasn't long into the fight that Kakashi revealed his Sharingan in order to keep up with Naruto. After a lot of time passed during this Taijutsu battle both retreated back and made the same hand signs.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Both called out.

Fifteen of both of them appeared on each side and just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared from the Kunai that were thrown from both sides. They then got into a grapple lock.

Both were groaning during the struggle. But then, Naruto quickly kicked Kakashi in the chin with both feet, and retreated back while making hand signs and calling out

"Doton: Doryūheki!"

A mud wall quickly appeared and punched Kakashi in the stomach, launching him back a bit.

While Kakashi was in the air, he made his own hand signs and called out

"Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu!"

A large wall of fire started charging Naruto.

Naruto was much quicker than it though and dodged it while making hand signs then called out

"Katon: Karyū Endan!"

A Dragon made of pure fire rushed at Kakashi (Who just landed on the ground) without any shot of stopping. Kakashi was quickly able to make some handsigns and call

"Suiton: Suikōdan No Jutsu!"

A Shark made of pure water rushed after the Dragon made of Fire and both canceled each other out.

Both stared each other down, But then Naruto charged forward and with a cocked fist let out a Chakra Enhanced Punch, only for it to miss and hit the ground (Kakashi dodged the move and pushed Naruto's head down, which forced his fist to hit the ground first).

After retracting his fist, Naruto looked around for Kakashi to see where he was, but couldn't find him. So then, he began looking around to make sure he wasn't caught off guard.

But then Kakashi came out from under the ground and delivered a big kick to Naruto's Jaw.

Naruto stumbled a bit but stood his ground and threw multiple Shuriken at Kakashi and then called out

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

The Shuriken then began multiplying until Kakashi couldn't due anything but dodge them all. He managed to dodge the first Twenty-Five, but the other Twenty-Five ended up stabbing him in the arm, chest and back. He groaned in pain frkm the stabs, but managed to get back up (Naruto didn't apply all his force or use Chakra for obvious reasons) to his feat, and after just a few hand signs, he called

"Chidori!"

And lunged at Naruto (He didn't apply too much Chakra for obvious reasons). Naruto saw this and decided one course of action was best. So he pulled out a Kunai and embedded it in Chakra, then lunged forward (He didn't apply too much Chakra.

Both clashed and it seemed as though it was gonna be a draw, until Naruto with one hand made his favorite hand sign and called out

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

And then appeared another Naruto right beside him, who brought out his own Kunai and planted it right in front of Kakashi's throat. Both called out their Jutsu and Naruto asked

"Do you give?"

Kakashi simply gave his famous eye smile and said

"Don't really have a choice do I?"

"Well if this were a real match, you could say no, but then I'd just thrust a bit forward and kill you. But in this case, I guess not" Naruto explained with a grin on his face.

"Alright, I give" Kakashi stated.

And so the Two Hour Long battle between the Two was over. Naruto reached forward, grabbed both bells from Kakashi, and said

"We win."

"Alright, so who do you pick to not have any food?" Kakashi asked.

"Easy, me" Naruto answered.

"Why you?" Kakashi asked.

"Because one hasn't eaten at all and I doubt the other had a proper breakfast" Naruto explained.

'So the boy's selfless, that's good to know, but is he or his teammates smart enough figure out the point of this test?' Kakashi thought. "Well okay then. do you know what happens to you?"

"Yeah, where's the rope?" Naruto asked with a deal exhale.

"Over there?" Kakashi said while pointing at the rope next to a tree.

(Ten Minutes Later)

Naruto was tied to a stump right in between both Sasuke and Ino as they were sitting down.

Sasuke was eating his food, but Ino was unable to even touch her food knowing that once again she was saved by Naruto. She knew that he lied when he talked about her not having a proper breakfast, but she also knew that he only said that to protect her from hunger. So she grabbed the tray of food from her hands and pulled it closer to Naruto before saying

"Here, have some." With a smile on her face.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry" Naruto said, before his stomach growled (The wait for and fight with Kakashi were what made Naruto become so hungry).

"Are you sure? And you said I didn't have a proper breakfast, but I do understand that you were just trying to protect me. So now I wanna protect you" Ino asked/said. "So here."

Sasuke stopped eating, looked at Naruto and Ino, then thought

'Hoe much training did the Third Hokage give him to make him this strong? And does she now like him?'

Naruto was still a bit reluctant about eating, but ate a bit of food anyways after realizing that his team would need him should they need to fight Kakashi again.

Then Kakashi appeared right in front of them all with an angry look on his face and with venom asked

"While I was trying Naruto up, I explicitly said no feeding him, and you disobey me?"

"We yeah, he protected us so now we should protect him!" Ino yelled.

"I see, well then, you all pass" was Kakashi's reply with his famous eye smile.

"What?" Sasuke asked. "But we disobeyed your orders?"

"It's true, those in the ninja world who disobey orders are regarded as scum, but those who would abandon even one of their friends are worse than scum" Kakashi explained. "I wanted to see if you would actually go through with leaving one of you comrades starving whilst you minded your own business. And thankfully, you didn't."

"Alright, wait Naruto-Kun did you know this already?" Ino asked.

"Yes and no. I knew about this bell test from my Jiji, but I didn't know about this lesson" Naruto explained..

"Well let's stop talking about this and head straight to the Hokage Tower for our first assignment shall we?" Kakashi offered.

"Alright" Sasuke said with a rather quiet voice.

Naruto would've shouted out alright, but he knew what they were bound to get, since they just became Genin.

The. both Kakashi and Sasuke began walking. to the Tower, completely forgetting about Ino and Naruto.

Ino looked at Naruto and giggled. She then brought out a Kunai and broke off the rope tying him to the stump.

"Thanks" Naruto thanked Ino.

"It's okay, you would've done the same for me" Ino explained.

"You're not wrong, but let's just go now" Naruto told her while rubbing his wrists with his last bits of strength.

"Okay" Ino replied.

And then both got to following Kakashi and Sasuke. However, after just a few steps Into got closer to Naruto and then when he least expected it, she grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her neck, while snuggling into his chest.

Naruto blushed at this action, but was still too tired from his fight with Kakashi and Dre to really do much about it.

"If only I had the strength to lift my hands" Naruto whispered to himself.

Ino however, heard this and inwardly shouted "I am so glad he doesn't!' with joy as they continued walking.

(The Hokage Tower)

Naruto and Ino managed to catch up to Sasuke and Kakashi after a bit and made it to the Hokage Tower.

Everyone there was visibly confused to see the Yamanaka Heiress snuggling into someone who they thought, she hated. But they quickly brushed it off and Naruto lazily asked

"What D ranked mission are we getting?"

"Who said you would be getting a D ranked mission Naruto?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto widened his eyes and loudly asked

"Wait what?!"

""Well since you have Two Genin and essentially Two Jonin, I feel you've got enough power and skill to take on a higher ranked mission" Hiruzen explained.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" Kakashi asked.

"An escort mission, you will be escorting a man named Tazuna to his home Land, Wave Country" Hiruzen detailed. "Come in!"

Then an old man opened the door and walked into the room.

"This is the team that I get? Well at least there's One Jonin" the old man said.

Naruto was visibly angry at what this man was saying, but took deep breaths and exhales to calm down.

"So I take it he's Tazuna?" Kakashi questioned.

"Yes, and you guys should get started right away" Hiruzen said.

"Alright let's get to it you guys" Kakashi said.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted.

With that said, they all left the Hokage Tower and headed to Wave Country, and Ino never let go of Naruto's arm.

(While Travelling)

Naruto and co, were walking to Wave Country but had to stop at a Meat Stand close by to satisfy their hunger from travelling.

While in the Meat Stand, Kakashi asked everyone what they wanted.

"I'll take Barbecue Ribs" Sasuke said.

"I'll take Pork" Tazuna said.

"I'll take whatever Naruto-Kun is having" Ino softly said while snuggling into Naruto's arm.

Naruto blushed, but shook it off and said

"Since there's no Ramen, I'll have some Beef. It'll help me get my strength back."

Ino was in too much bliss to hear what Naruto said (If she did hear then she would've asked him to get something else. Because if he got his strength back, then she wouldn't be able to embrace him anymore) and instead said

"You know what to get me."

After Kakashi made the orders, the Stand Owner told them to wait while he prepared the meals. After about Ten Minutes, Their meals finally arrived.

It only took Naruto Two minutes to finish his beef and get his strength back. Once he did, he started separating Ino's hands from his arm.

Ino felt her hands not being in the warm comfort of Naruto's arm and opened her eyes to see Naruto seperating her from him

"Naruto-Kun!" Ino whined. "Would you please keep me warm with your arm?!"

"Ino, youve been holding onto it for Hours, let me go, leave me alone, and stop calling me Kun" Naruto said while separating their arms.

Ino simply pouted, gave him Puppy Dog Eyes, and asked him

"Pretty please?"

Naeuto choked under the pressure, especially because they were in front of an audience, and with his head down, and an arm hanging, he defeatedly said

"Fine, come here."

Ino squealed in delight and gladly took Naruto's open arm around her shoulder, while once again pressing her face against his chest.

"But only for right now, once we leave here you've gotta let me go okay" Naruto said with a blush on his face.

"Okay" Ino said while smiling at Naruto.

After a bit of time, they all finished their meals and went off to the Wave Country (Ino stuck to her word and very reluctantly, let go of Naruto).

(Wave Country Borders)

Naruto and co, were taking steps into the border of Wave Country, when suddenly both Kakashi and Naruto stopped. They pulled out their Kunai, looked around, and then a man appeared right in front of them in a mask.

"Zabuza Momochi" Kakashi and Naruto said in unison.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan and Naruto the Prodigy of the Leaf" Zabuza said. "If I knew I would be dealing with you two, then I would've brought back up. Oh well, doesn't matter."

"Sasuke you and Ino look after Tazuna, while me and Naruto fight against Zabuza" Kakashi said.

Both rushed Zabuza and were easiky over powering him with the Two on One advantage.

Zabuxa couldn't fathom how quickly and badly he was losing to these Two and decided that his only optiom was to retreat. However, with these Two in front of him, he had no way of getting far enough to actually escape. So he let himself get beaten to a pulp by these two, untill finally, he was punned against a tree ready to be killed. But becore he could be, a Kunai came and nearly peirced through his face.

Both Kakashi and Naruto leapt back, then saw that a Hunter Nin was right there.

"I'll take him off your hands if you don't mind?" Asked the Hunter Nin.

"I don't care" said Kakashi.

'I don't trust that guy though' thought Naruto.

"Thank you" and without another word, that Hunter Nin and Zabuza, disappeared.

After having a talk with Tazuna about why he lied about the rank of the mission, the crew headed straight to their destination.

(Tazuna's House)

Team 7 arrived at Tazuna's house after a while and introduced themselves to Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami. After Tsunami introduced herself, the Team sat down and had something to eat, courtesy of Tsunami.

They all sat down on different sides of the table they were sitting by, except of course Ino and Naruto.

Ino tried to wrap Naruto's arm around her neck, but he wouldn't allow it to happen.

"Naruto was it? Shouldn't you accept when your Girlfriend wants to be smothered in your attention?" Asked Tsunami.

Naruto and Ino both blushed, but Naruto shook it off and got to explaining

"Actually she"

"Is the type of Girlfriend that wants all attention from her Boyfriend" Ino interrupted.

Naruto blushed again, meanwhile Tsunami was admiring the 'couple' and their affection towards each other.

Naruto was gonna speak and correct Ino, but before he could, he noticed that Ino was trying to lean in for a kiss. He moved his head aside and avoided it but Ino kept trying over and over again. Eventually though, Tsunami said

"Naruto, it's rude to deny your Girlfriend the kiss she wants from you."

Naruto grabbed Ino by her shoulders, pulled her away, turned his head to look at Tsunami, and louldy told her

"She's not my Girlfriend!"

Tsunami felt a bit dense for thinking that, but brushed it off and apologized to Naruto.

"I'm sorry for my assumptions" said Tsunami.

"It's okay, I understand" Naruto assured Tsunami.

"Who are they?" Said a little boy who just entered the room.

"They are the Ninja that your Grandpa called here to protect him in order to build the bridge, Inari" Tsunami answered.

"What's the point, Gato's just going to kill them like he does everyone else?" Inari questioned.

"Hey kid, be a bit more optimistic. Because if you're saying we're gonna die, then so is your Grandpa" Naruto told him.

Inari simply huffed and walked away.

"Don't mind him, he's still depressed over what happened a while ago" Tsunami said.

"What happened?" Asked Naruto and Kakashi.

"His Step Father was killed by Gato years ago, what's worse is that it was in a place where the whole town, including us saw him" Tsunami explained. "Kaiza, his Step Father was the only one in town that stood up to Gato and so Gato showed everyone what will happen if anyone else tries to stand up to him."

Naruto clenched his fist and and angrily said

"You guys wait here."

"Where are you going!" Kakashi yelled.

"To kill this Gato man" Naruto answered.

"Absolutely not Naruto! I know that you're strong enough to kill Gato and his men altogether, with even the worst of disabilities, but our mission is to protect Tazuna!" Kakashi loudly assured Naruto.

"Well if Gato dies then don't you think that Tazuna will have been protected!?" Naruto yelled back in question.

Kakashi calmed down and in a much quieter voice, told Naruto

"I know how you feel Naruto, but you musn't let your own personal feelings get in the way of this mission."

Naruto also calmed down and in a calmer voice told Kakashi

"You're right Kakashi-Sensei, I'm sorry."

"Naruto-Kun" Ino said before embracing Naruto with a tear falling down her face. "We won't let them get away with this, we will kill that bastard, but first we need to protect Tazuna."

Naruto saw the look of hurt in Ino's face and voice and apologized.

"I'm sorry Ino, I'll do whatever I can to not scare you that way again. But sadly, I can't promise it won't happen again" Naruto said in order to console Ino.

After a bit of time passed, Ino saw that Naruto was having trouble not letting his anger take control (He kept gnashing his teeth with a growl). Kakashi told them about training, but Ino looked at Kakashi and Sasuke, then said

"Why don't you guys go train? I think I should stay and help Naruto-Kun."

They obliged, seeing as Naruto was having the hardest time out of the Four.

"Ino, what's going on?" Naruto asked.

Ino simply led them both to a couch nearby and had them both sit down.

"Naruto-Kun, I want you to tell me why this bothers you so much that you actually wanna go out and kill that man" Ino asked him.

"Because of what he did, why else?" Naruto said in confusion.

"Naruto-Kun, me, Kakashi-Sensei, and Sasuke heard this too, but we didn't react like you did. Don't get me wrong, it hurt knowing what happened, but we didn't let our anger take control of us. So what's really bothering you?"

Naruto simply stared at the ground in defeat and explained that

"It's because it was the kid's Step Father."

Ino looked confused and asked Naruto

"What do you mean?"

"The kid had a Step Father that he adored so much, but he was taken away because of some power hungry psychopath. The reason why this gets me so much is because I never had a Mother, Father, or Adoptive Parents. So just thinking that a kid had to go through what I did really angers me" Naruto explained.

"Okay Naruto-Kun, just lay down for now" Ino instructed.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"I know something that might help me understand you better" Ino answered.

Naruto realized what Ino was going to attempt, but he couldn't let her do it. So he stuck his hand out and said

"No."

"Why?"

"Ino, I know what you wanna do, but I'm telling you, you don't wanna see exactly what I went through. I'm doing this for your own good, I don't wanna traumatize you."

"Naruto-Kun, please let me attempt the Jutsu? I need to know."

"No Ino, you don't. I dont wanna put you through more than you've already went through yourself. How much practice have you had wiyh that Jutsu anyways?"

"Ever aince you saved me the First time" Ino genuinely answered. "My Father helped me practice all my Mind Jutsu since you saved. Only problem is, I never worked on strong Ninjutsu, Genjutsu or Taijutsu, so I'm still not that strong."

"Why ever since I first saved you?" Naruto asked.

"So that if you were to come up again, I could find out who you are. Also, more importantly, to help you fight if the time came when I found out. But, like I said, since I didn't work on any attacking Jutsu and only worked on Jutsu meant for the mind of weakened opponents, I'm still not that strong. But that'll change, I'll train hard in the other Jutsus in order to actually be able to back you up Naruto-Kun! So please, let me attempt it!?" Ino explained/asked.

"Ino, listen to me. You've put me through hell for a majority of these years, But I'm not holding a grudge against you. If you see what not only the villagers but also you yourself did to me, you might hold a grudge against yourself and the Village. And I don't want that to happen to you, so just trust me and let it go for now" Naruto clarified.

His words hit Ino hard, she still wanted to do it, but he was right. So she took a deep breath, then said

"Ok Naruto-Kun, maybe later on, but not right now" Ino said.

"Ok, it's good that you understand" Naruto said before getting up and exiting the House. He then went to a Forrest near the house and meditated (He was meditating in order to clear his mind of what was going on).

Then someone wandered around the Forrest and saw Naruto. That person recognized him and thought

'He is one of the Ninja that almost killed Zabuza, I should probably take care of him now, since he's distracted."

While Naruto was meditating, he heard the sound of a twig snap, as well as the sound of a Kunai being brought out from its sheath. His instincts took over and he ended up grabbing the arm that held the kunai, and put the person in an arm bar. Naruto opened his eyes and saw who he had in an arm bar, although he didn't know this person, he realized that no one in the Wave Country would wield a kunai out of nowhere. But then the person spoke

"Let me go!" The person grunted in pain.

Naruto remembered the voice of this person and said

"So you do work with him? Because if you were really a Hunter Nin, you wouldn't try to kill someone who helped you capture a Rogue."

"Well aren't you the wise guy" The person sarcastically said.

"Who are you?" Naruto said/questioned.

The person let out a sigh and explained that

"My name is Haku, I am a Boy, and I have nothing against you guys. But I have a role to fill as someone's tool, so I will do whatever I need to in order to fulfill that role" Haku explained.

Naruto simply let Haku go and said

"Nobody's a tool Haku, but if you try to kill a friend of mine, I won't hesitate to kill you. So just keep that in mind for the next time we meet."

After saying his piece, Naruto walked away.

Naruto re-entered Tazuna's house and sat down on the couch to rest (His meditation was image training as well, not just to calm him down). After just a few minutes Naruto was out. But little did he know that a young Yamanaka was watching him ever since he reentered the house.

Ino walked up to Naruto's sleeping body and took this as her chance to use the Jutsu. So she made the hand sign and quietly called

"Saiko Denshin."

Instantly, Ino began getting her mind flooded with memories from Naruto. the memories that came to her ended up making her yell out

"Argh!" In agony.

She fell to her knees and began panting heavily at what she had seen. She couldn't believe how bad Naruto had it, she always thought that he was living a good life because of the smile he always had on his face, but now she realized that it was all just a mask. Before she knew it, she was on the floor, sitting in a fetal position, crying her eyes out.

Naruto ended up waking up to the sound of Ino's yells of agony as well as her heartbreaking cries. Naruto immediately rushed over the Ino's side and began consoling her, knowing that she must have seen something terrible in his mind.

"It's okay Ino, it's okay" Naruto said it as he embraced Ino and rubbed her back.

Ino simply kept crying knowing the truth of what Naruto has had to go through in his life, at such a young age to make matters worse, and what's even worse than that is that some of it was because of her. The boy that she looked up to was always belittled by her and the village, but he still stayed loyal to the village and loyal as a friend to her, she just couldn't believe it.

As Ino was crying her heart out, Naruto released the embrace, looked at her sobbing eyes, and began wiping all of her tears away with his thumb. While he was doing this, he assured her

"Ino, don't worry, I'm fine now."

"Keyword is 'Now' Naruto-Kun" Ino said through sobs. "Why do you keep saving me? I wanna know the truth."

"Ino, you already know" said Naruto.

"No, I want the truth! Why did you actually save me!? I've been nothing but trouble for you, so why did you miss your life to save me!?" Ino asked while still sobbing.

Naruto sighed, look downcast, and then he explained that

"Ok, the truth is, I just felt a strange connection to you when I saw your hair on the ground. It felt strange to me, because the sight of seeing a girl who I know's hair on the ground really got to me. I knew that the hair had to be a bad sign, because who leaves a trail of hair on the ground in a straight path. So I followed it and then I ended up saving you, that's the reason."

"So you took understood my hair as a reason to follow me before noticing the trail?" Ino asked still in tears.

"Strangely, yes" Naruto answered. "And for some reason, even now, I feel a strange connection to you, as if we're connected by some type of thread."

"Naruto-Kun, are you serious?" Ino asked. "Because I thought it was just me. When you first saved me deep down inside, I was hoping that it was you, not Sasuke. I kept trying to drown out the need for it to be you by tricking myself into and inwardly saying Sasuke. Because quite honestly, I didn't even know why I was hoping it was you, but now I do."

Ino then grabbed a hold of Naruto's arms and stretch them out from left to right. She then use the open space to lean in for a kiss.

Naruto saw what was happening, but couldn't let it happen. So he turned his head the other way, dodging the kiss from Ino.

Once Ino reached her destination, she realized that she kissed air. She opened her eyes and saw the look Naruto had on his face (It was one of disagreement).

"Why don't you wanna Naruto-Kun?" Ino asked in a cracked voice.

"Ino, just because I feel a connection to you, doesn't mean that I have fallen for you" Naruto said.

"But why not?" Ino desperately asked.

"While I don't hold a grudge against you, it doesn't mean that I have forgiven you for what you've done to me. I am fine now believe me, but I feel if I am with you, you will do something that will not only make me hold a grudge against you for reminding me of what you put me through, but also what the Village has put me through" Naruto explained.

After saying his piece, Naruto stood up, and walked out of the house (The Front Yard).

Ino got angry and repeatedly kept punching the floor until her hands fists turned Red. But after breathing heavy for a bit, she calmed down, and went outside herself (The Back Yard) to train.

Kakashi was still teaching Sasuke how to walk up a tree, when Ino showed up.

"Oh Ino, you're just in time to learn how to" Kakashi started but was interrupted by Ino, who said

"Walk up a tree, I know, my father showed me how Years ago" she explained with venom.

'Why is she so mad?' Thought both Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Kakashi-Sensei, do you think you can teach me some good Taijutsu techniques?" Ino asked.

"Sure, Sasuke keep working on your Tree walking" Kakashi said.

"Fine" Sasuke groaned.

Once they were away enough from Sasuke, Kakashi got into a stance and warned Ino

"Alright, get ready to start Ino."

"Bring it on Kakashi-Sensei" Ino said.

And then the training started.

(With Naruto)

Naruto was working on something that was taught to him by both Hiruzen Sarutobi snd Jiraiya.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

And Naruto summoned a tadpole.

"Still Gamakichi?" Naruto said in confusion. "How'd he do it that day?"

(Flashback, Two Weeks Ago)

Hiruzen and Naruto were training in Taijutsu, untill Hiruzen stopped, and said

"That's enough for now."

"Alright Jiji" Naruto said with a pant.

They were in the Chunin Exams Stadium for the training and outta nowhere, someone appeared at the corner of their eyes.

"Long time no see, Jiraiya" said Hiruzen.

"I know, it's good to see you again Sensei" Jiraiya responded.

"Is he the reason we stopped the Taijutsu portion of my training?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, because from now on, you will be receiving training from him. And you won't have to wait for him like you do for me, which is what makes it all the more better, since he's a Sannin" Hiruzen explained.

"Okay, what can you teach me?" Naruto asked.

"This" Jiraiya said before biting his thumb, making hand signs, and calling out "Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

Immediately, a man sized Toad appeared in front of him.

.

After signing the toad contract, Naruto in excitement, shouted

"Alright, now let me give it a shot!"

After saying what he said, he copied what Jiraiya did, and shouted

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

Only for a tadpole who was later revealed to be Gamakichi by Jiraiya, to appear.

"This is going to take some work isn't it?" Naruto looked at both his Sensei's while asking this question.

(Present)

Naruto snapped out of his train of thought and tried again.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

Only for Gamakichi to appear over and over again, for Hours, until finally, Naruto was too taxed of Chakra to continue.

"Well *Pant* that'll do it *Pant* for Today" Naruto said, completely drained.

He then made it way back to Tazuna's house, went to the couch, and rested. Little did he know a young Yamanaka Heiress was waiting for him to do that.

'Alright, he's asleep!" Ino inwardly shouted from behind the couch Naruto was resting on.

She then grabbed a blanket, put it over Naruto, got on the couch herself, and made Naruto spoon her.

"This feels so much better than sleeping alone" Ino whispered to herself, before going to sleep.

Tsunami and Kakashi both saw the whole ordeal, then Tsunami spoke up

"Something's telling me that they're going to end up as a nice couple."

Kakashi simply said

"I doubt it, I've been in his position before, with the admiring Female teammate of course, not that the girl has ever done exactly that to me. And nothing ever happened between me and that Female teammate."

"Well maybe history won't repeat itself then" Tsunami said before walking off to her own room.

"Maybe" Kakashi whispered to himself, before he went went to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms (The couch was the closest thing, which was why Naruto decided to sleep there).

(The Next Morning)

Naruto woke up from his slumber, only to see that he was currently spooning Ino, with a single blanket covering them both. Naruto put Two and Two together and was about to separate them both, but as he was, he stopped himself after hearing Ino talking in her dreams.

Ino felt Naruto letting her go but didn't wake up, instead, this triggered her to talk in her sleep.

"Naruto-Kun, please, don't leave me!? I'm sorry for checking your mind again, but I just wanted to make sure you don't have any regrets about our Marriage! I love you with all my heart, I wish to have a kid with you, so please don't leave me!" Ino begged in her dream.

Naruto blushed, but then after realizing that he doesn't wish to cause Ino any mental problems due to sleep, he inwardly asked himself

'Why am I doing this?'

Before embracing Ino tightly.

'I guess I'll have to wait until she wakes up' Naruto thought, before going back to sleep.

Sasuke walked into the living room, saw both blondes, and thought

'A dobe and a fan girl, pathetic.'

He then went back outside to practice his tree walking (He still hasn't figured it out).

Shortly after he left, Kakashi walked into the living room and saw both blondes as well.

"Rise and Shine!" He shouted in order to wake them both up, it worked.

"Come on Kakashi-Sensei, I was just having a pleasant dream about!" Ino started yelling, but stopped when she realized the target of her desire was right next to her.

"What happened?" Naruto asked while yawning (The question and yawning was just an act).

"N-nothing Naruto-Kun!" Ino shouted in embarrassment.

"Whatever, I'm gonna go outside to work on summon" Naruto said before getting up to leave the house.

Both Ino and Kakashi were shocked beyond belief that Naruto was that advanced in Jutsu. but Kakashi quickly shook it off and told Naruto

"Alright, me, Ino, and Sasuke will go to the bridge now, you work on your Jutsu since I know you're fast enough to reach us if you ever need to."

"Gotcha" was all Naruto said before leaving the house.

"We should get going too" Kakashi told Ino.

"Do you think I could stay with Naruto-Kun?" Ino asked.

"No offense Ino, but I feel you will just be a distraction for him, learning how to summon is very difficult for even the most advanced of Jonin, so he needs to be at his top game, and I don't think you will be an asset" Kakashi explained.

Ino was getting tired of being weak, she hates not being able to help Naruto, unlike how he has helped her. She remembered how she inwardly vowed to become strong, but this time she vocalized it and said

"Kakashi-Sensei, I vow to become strong, so that I can help Naruto-Kun without worrying about being in the way, will you train me once we get back!?"

Kakashi looked at the determination in her eyes and could tell that she was being sincere. So he just nodded and with his famous eyesmile, said

"Of course. Actually why don't we train at the bridge?"

"Alright!" Ino exclaimed in excitement.

"But we must go now" Kakashi said.

Ino nodded in agreement and then after picking up Sasuke, the Three left to go to the bridge.

(With Naruto)

Naruto was in a meditating position in the top of a tree, from where he met Haku. He was trying to work on manipulating his own Chakra (He was using his own chakra to summon, not the fox's) and once he felt he was done, he jumped down, bit his thumb, and called out

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

Only for a slightly bigger tadpole to appear this time.

'Gamakichi got slightly bigger! I must be getting somewhere!' Naruto inwardly shouted in relief.

After working for a bit more Hours Naruto called it a day again due to Chakra Exhaustion. Once he made it back to Tazuna's house, he immediately saw some of Gato's goons coming through the front door, with Tsunami over their shoulder.

Naruto simply walked in front of both of them and said

"Put her down, or else."

They simply scoffed and in unison said

"Or else w" but didn't get to finish as Naruto slit both their throats before they could finish.

Once they were on their knees, the one holding Tsunami let go and she began falling, Naruto quickly caught her without any real hindrance.

Inari came out of the house and in worry, shouted

"Mom!"

Only to see Naruto holding his mother up over his shoulder.

Naruto put the woman down and said

"I better get going, my friends are probably in danger."

"Wait but if you run into Gato?!" Inari asked loudly.

"Then I'll kill him, someone's got to stand up to him, and if it's not going to be you guys, then I guess it's going to have to be me" Naruto explained before taking off.

(With Kakashi, Half an Hour Earlier)

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Ino were staring down Zabuza and Haku (They still didn't know Haku's name or how he looked).

Kakashi looked at Sasuke and said "Since Naruto isn't here, Ino, protect Tazuna while me and Sasuke fight Zabuza and the other."

Without another word, Kakashi ran forward to fight Zabuza.

Sasuke stepped up to fight Haku and Haku did the same. They got into a Kunai battle that lasted Twenty Five minutes (Haku was just toying with Sasuke). Afterwards, Haku decided to end it all in One go. So he dodged One last Kunai strike, then launched himself at Ino.

Ino couldn't react fast enough and was immediately locked in place (Haku had his Kunai placed inches away from Ino's throat and was shielding himself with her body).

"Not another step or she gets it" Haku said.

'Damnit, why am I so weak?!" Ino shouted inwardly.

Sasuke, simply smirked and said

"Ino, don't move, I'll get you out of there."

"I don't trust you" Ino said

And she was right not to trust him, because Sasuke just threw his Kunai at full force at Ino's stomach. Ino coughed up blood, lost motion, and fell to the ground.

"No!" Kakashi yelled. "What did you do Sasuke?!"

"If she's so weak and slow that she can be so easily trapped, then she's just getting in the way of the mission" Sasuke said.

"Didn't you learn a thing from Yesterday!?" Kakashi yelled in question.

Zabuza took the opening that Kakashi made and stabbed Kakashi with his sword.

"Argh!" Kakashi yelled in agony.

"Die!" Zabuza said before slicing vertically.

But, the sword was stopped by a Kunai. Haku, Kakashi, Zabuza, and Sasuke all look to see Naruto with a look of hate in his eyes.

Naruto kick Zabuza in the stomach, ran towards Haku, and sliced him over and over again in the throat before Haku could react. Haku fell to his knees and that's what Naruto gruntingly whispered

"I warned you."

Before kicking Haku in the face, shortly after the kick, Haku died. Naruto then turned towards Sasuke and lunged forward.

Sasuke saw that Naruto looked like he was going to attack him (Before Naruto ran), so he smirked, brought his Kunai out, (He didn't actually think that Naruto would hurt him, so Sasuke brought his Kunai out to cut him, and show that he is superior) and waited for him to come close enough. However, he was shocked when Naruto cocked his fist and brought it out to Sasuke's stomach. The momentum plus Naruto's power (Naruto did not use chakra) caused Sasuke to fly until his body crashed with Zabuza.

Naruto immediately turned towards Ino and ran at full speed. Once he got to her, he brought out his hands, and started applying Medical Chakra into her stomach.

"Come on Ino, stay strong!" Naruto shouted in panic.

Zabuza merely threw Sasuke's body off of him and charged at Kakashi. But he didn't realize that Kakashi already had a Chidori at hand. So when Zabuza dove for Kakashi, Kakashi thrusted his Chidori hand, then struck the heart of Zabuza, killing him instantly.

Kakashi turned around to see Naruto trying to nurse Ino back to health.

Naruto kept shouting for Ino to heal and get back up, but it wasn't working. Then Naruto realized something.

'I have to take the risk, I can't lose her!' Naruto shouted inwardly.

Naruto put his hands down, got on his knees, but Ino's head on his lap, and lowered his face to Ino's, until their lips were touching. Once their lips touched, Naruto put more passion to it, then after a bit, the Fox's Chakra started gushing out of Naruto and going into Ino.

Ino's stab was starting to heal, and after a bit

Ino woke up from her pain induced slumber to see the Boy she realized that she loves, kissing her. She instinctively kissed him back.

After Naruto felt Ino kiss him back, he knew that she was back to full strength. So he broke the kiss, much to Ino's detest.

Once Naruto completely separated his head from Ino's, Ino hastily asked him

"Does this mean we can be together?!"

But Naruto simply shook his head.

"But you" Ino started but was interrupted by Kakashi who said

"He only kissed you to save you Ino" Kakashi said.

"Wait, so you kissed me in order to heal me with the Fox's Chakra?" Ino asked.

Kakashi was shocked to hear that she knew about The Fox, but Naruto wasn't.

Naruto simply nodded his head at Ino's question as an answer.

Ino was both happy and sad at the same time. She was happy that she got to kiss the boy she loves, but was sad that the boy and her still aren't going to be together.

Naruto got back on his feet, looked at Sasuke, then at Kakashi, and asked him

"What do we do with him?"

"He must take responsibility for what he did, we'll talk to Lord Third about what to do with him" Kakashi answered.

"Alright" was Naruto's reply.

"Well, well, well" said a short fat man wearing sunglasses.

"Gato!" Naruto grunted.

"Yeah it's me kid, and look at us you're outnumbered, just surrender and die easily, nobody's going to help you" Gato said smugly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" Shouted Inari, who was surrounded by multiple towns people, all with weapons at hand.

All of Gato's goons including Gato, were frozen in fear. They didn't even have time to react when both Naruto and Kakashi killed every single one of them except Gato, who they instead subdued.

After tying Gato in chains and putting a gag in his mouth, Naruto told the citizens

"It's all up to you about what you want to do to him! You can torture him, burn him, drown him, do whatever you want, just make sure he dies!"

"Yeah!" Shouted all the citizens in unison (If one were to listen closely, they would hear Gato trying to scream and beg for the people to let him live, but even if someone did hear him, they obviously wouldn't let him live).

"Hey!" Shouted Sasuke, who finally woke up from the punch that Naruto gave him.

Naruto looked at him and although it was hard for him, he calmly said

"Why don't you just get lost now Sasuke? Nobody wants you here."

"And I don't want you here, so I guess we're even, but I still got to get you back for that punch!" Sasuke yelled before taking out a Kunai and charging at Naruto.

Naruto simply sighed in boredom and decided to have fun with Sasuke.

Naruto told everyone

"Don't interfere!"

They all did is instructed and stayed where they were without moving a muscle.

Then, once Sasuke got close, he went for a slice, only for Naruto to dodge it without any problems at all. Sasuke kept trying to cut Naruto over and over again, but Naruto was simply too fast to even be touched by Sasuke. After about a minute of this, Naruto brought out his Kunai, and lazily, yet effectively, started blocking all of Sasuke's attacks. He was barely giving it any effort at all, yet he was still not touched one bit. After a bit, Naruto got bored and decided to end it the same way he started it. So he dodged One more punch from Sasuke, then launched Sasuke off the ground with a strong (But not Chakra Enhanced) left hook to the stomach.

Sasuke was out of air but managed to gasp out

"How could this be *Gasp*? I'm an Uchiha *Gasp* an Elite *Gasp*."

"Well, Mr Elite, it can and it is happening" Naruto assured Sasuke, before Sasuke passed out from pain.

Naruto got back up, dusted himself off, and asked the townspeople

"Now, where were we?"

"The banquet!" They all happily shouted as their hero just won his battle.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted in happiness that he was not only able to complete his first mission, but also able to celebrate with a banquet.

(The Next Day)

Naruto woke up from sleeping after the banquet the townspeople had yesterday. He rubbed his eyes (With One hand) to see that once again, he was spooning Ino.

'I hope she didn't take the kiss the wrong way' Naruto thought before going back to sleep and spooning Ino (He didn't want Ino to beg him to stay in her sleep).

Like last time Kakashi woke them both up by shouting

"Rise and Shine!"

Ino once again got mad that she was disturbed from her pleasant dream of Naruto, Naruto of course pretended to have just woken up that moment.

"Time to go you Two. And One of you should probably carry Sasuke" Kakashi informed.

"I'll do it, after all, I am the One who knocked him out" Naruto tiredly said.

After this was said, Naruto picked Sasuke up from the couch, and threw him over his shoulder. they then began making their way out of Wave Country. But or stopped by the townspeople.

"What name do you three suppose we should give the bridge?" Inari asked.

"Just think about something that gives you hope and name it that" Naruto advised before he and his team left through the bridge.

.

The townspeople all gathered together and gave it some thought before coming to a conclusion on One

"The Great Naruto Bridge!" They all happily exclaimed in unison.

(Back With Team 7)

Naruto and Co were making their way back to The Leaf, where challenges awaited them. Naruto drots Sasuke off at his home in the Uchiha Compound, Kakashi filed the mission in with Hiruzen, and Ino was currently making her way to her household.

'I can't believe it! Naruto-Kun kissed me!' Ino inwardly shouted in happiness.

After a while, she arrived at her house, waved at her parents with a smile, and made her way to her room. She couldn't help but talk about how good it fell to finally be kissed by the boy she loves, her Naruto-Kun. She understood that he only did to save her, but she's still happy that their lips touched nonetheless. It wasn't long before her father entered the room and asked her

"So you're in love with Naruto now are you?"

Ino turned beat Red after hearing this, since she didn't hear her Father enter the room.

"I honestly have to say I'm quite relieved, you and me both know that I was never fully or even partially on board with your feelings for the Uchiha, same thing with your Kaa-Chan" Inoichi explained.

"Yeah, I know Tou-San" Ino replied. "Anyways Tou-San, do you think that you can help me get more used to those Jutsu you're teaching me? I feel if I am able to learn those Jutsu from you at a higher degree, as well as greater Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu from Kakashi-Sensei, I will no longer be a liability to Naruto-Kun."

"So you want to protect him now" Inoichi figured.

"Yes" Ino answered. "He's saved my life more than once and I wanna do the same for him."

Inoichi flinched and ask his Daughter

"You know?"

"I do. And I love him, I realized that I always have, but always tried ignoring it until now" Ino explained.

"Well Naruto is a good kid, so I am genuinely glad that you have such strong feelings for him, and I honestly don't understand what you you saw in the Uchiha" Inoichi told Ino.

"I don't even know what I saw in him either. Naruto-Kun is better than him in every way. He's stronger, smarter, faster, kinder, better looking, and most importantly, he actually cares about me" Ino clarified.

"That Uchiha's obsession with revenge is going to make him a danger to everyone around" Inoichi made clear.

"If he ever does try anything, Naruto-Kun will stop him, just like he did on the mission" Ino said matter of factly.

"What did the Uchiha do?" Inoichi asked seriously (He was serious because his Daughter was in the mission with the Uchiha).

Ino flinched after hearing this from her Father and realizing her slip of the tongue. However, she knew that her Father was going to find out sooner later, so with a hung head she explained that

"He threw a Kunai threw my stomach in an attempt to kill the enemy."

Inoichi gnashed his teeth and balled his fists after hearing what that bastard of an Uchiha did to his Daughter. But heard his Daughter continue to speak, so he listened up.

"After I bled to unconscious, Naruto-Kun showed up, knocked Sasuke out with One punch, then immediately nursed me back to health" Ino continued.

Inoichi straightened his hands, ungnashed his teeth, and smiled (He was happy that Naruto helped his Daughter when she was on the verge of death).

Ino then finished speaking by saying

"And he healed me, by kissing me, which in turn transfered some of the healing Chakra from The Kyuubi to me."

Inoichi got up and asked his Daughter

"Do you wish to start training now or later?"

Ino hot up and said

"Now."

"Then let's begin" Inoichi said.

To Be Continued...