Chapter 3: Sasuke and Ino
January 24th, 64AFL
As Shikamaru exited the classroom the Third Hokage was lost in deep thought, a million questions going through his mind.
'What is going on? It's not uncommon for a few shinobi to have their soulmate's location be outside of the village but this is ridiculous. So far all of the shinobi who have had their Soul Seals performed have had soulmates not only outside of the village but Suna,Kumo,Taki, as well as this new village that just showed up North of here Otogakure.
Then there's this odd three person bond between Naruto-kun, Sakura and Hinata that's supposed to be extremely rare according to Lord Fourth's notes but this is the first time it's actually occurred. Kami-sama just what are you planning? What does this mean for the future of the Leaf, for the world in general?'
Asuma looked at his father who was still deep in thought. "What are you thinking old man?" he asked. "Nothing It's not important, let's just get the next student I believe it was Sasuke Uchiha next" the Hokage responded. The father and son pair made their way back to retrieve the last of the Uchiha with Asuma wondering what he was going to have to do in order to finally earn his father's trust.
"Sasuke Uchiha."
Sasuke heard his name called and began to follow the Hokage and Kakashi with an even more unpleasant expression on his face than usual.
"Sasuke-kun I'll see you in a little bit I'm sure of it" Ino said, before Sasuke could exit the room he turned around and glared at her "Honestly Ino for your sake I really hope not," he replied leaving Ino in a confused and irritated state.
'Why does he have to be so damn angry all the time, I mean I know he's been through a lot but I just want to help him understand that he can still love and be loved even if his family is gone. Seriously it's not like he actually saw his brother kill his clan right?' Ino thought to herself. In a few moments she would know the answer and through that become closer to understanding Sasuke and what it meant to be the last of the Uchiha clan.
As Kakashi, the Hokage, and Sasuke took their seats in the sound sealed room the two adults noticed the irritated expression on Sasuke's face.
"Sasuke I would think you would be at least a little happy, after all this is the first step in achieving your dream of reviving your clan," Kakashi tried explaining to his most gifted student.
Sasuke looked at his sensei and gave an expression similar to one he gave whenever thinking about Itachi, "Yeah real fucking lucky for me and my soulmate as soon as our marriage is announced Itachi will return and finish us off I'm sure of it." Sasuke has a point thought Kakashi but before he could voice his opinion the Hokage shared his own.
"Sasuke don't worry about that right now, official marriage ceremonies can't occur until both partners reach sixteen or chunin status," the Hokage explained. "Besides I've already decided that all of the Soul Seals that have been performed today will remain confidential until both parties are of age and or rank. The only ones who will be told are the parents, as for the rest of the village it will be a S-Class secret for your protection as well as your classmates." the Hokage finally finished.
Sasuke seemed to relax a bit and did as the Hokage instructed tying the piece of paper he was handed to his right hand and then giving it to the Hokage. "Sacred Art - Soul Seal Jutsu!" he shouted.
As soon as he did Sasuke passed out upright in the chair he had been sitting in, completely drained of chakra. Unlike with the others, the Soul Seal Jutsu had taken the majority of Sasuke's chakra but that wasn't the only difference the two adults noticed. Instead of one ball of chakra Sasuke had expelled two balls of equal size and both black in color.
"Sasuke too!" the Hokage stated awestruck that a second student in this years graduating class had potentially two soulmates. Kakashi's reaction was a little different as he began silently crying tears of joy, being an avid fan of Jiraiya the Toad Sage's best selling book series Makeout Tactics he couldn't of been more proud of his two male students. The Hokage regained his composure when he saw Kakashi's reaction and quickly proceed to give him a good Tsunade style bonk to the head, although the Hokage would normally agree with him now was not the time for this.
The Third quickly tied a second paper to Sauske's left hand and as he did the two black balls of chakra shot off in two different directions, one heading towards the classroom where the only remaining female graduate remained and one heading directly north of Konoha.
The first black orb found its way to the classroom where Ino was waiting patiently. When she saw the orb she jumped out of her seat and cried out in happiness.
"Yes Sasuke-kun I promise I'm going to love and protect you forever as well as save you from yourself!" she stated proudly. She walked towards the orb of Sasuke's chakra and similar to Sakura she forced the orb of chakra into her body in one fluid motion causing Ino to scream as she shut her eyes.
Naruto stirred at all the noise Ino had caused and looked around the room not noticing the platinum blonde just standing there like a zombie. "Guess It was nothing," he said as he proceeded to lay his head back on his desk and return to his nap.
Meanwhile the shadow clone of the Third Hokage and Hinata had finally met up with Sakura.
"Hey Hinata" Sakura started and struggled with the next part but it finally came out, "I'm sorry I took Naruto away from you I know you really, really liked him." Sakura looked at the Hyuga heiress with sympathy but was shocked when Hinata started giggling.
"Actually Sakura the Hokage wants to speak with us in private about that" Hinata told Sakura who looked confusingly at her and then the Hokage's clone who simply smiled and nodded, "Follow me," he said.
The two kunoichi followed the old man to another classroom littered with sound seals around the walls although the desks and chairs were still present. The three sat down and the Hokage finally began explaining the truth about Naruto and his parents
"Naruto's father was Minato Namikaze you may also know him as the Yellow Flash or the Fourth Hokage, his mother was an Uzumaki survivor from the Whirlpool Village known as Kushina Uzumaki also known as the Hot-Blooded Habanero. They both perished the night of the nine-tails attack and because Minato had so many enemies including ones inside of the village itself I made the decision to keep his parentage a secret and it needs to remain that way, at least until you are all old enough to defend your new family," the Hokage explained to the two girls.
"Our new family?" Sakura looked at the Hokage and then Hinata who giggled once again and then showed Sakura her left hand. Sakura didn't recognize the clan symbol on Hinata's hand nor did she know why Hinata's left hand had the seal and not her right but those questions were overpowered by shock as she read the paper on Hinata's hand. In big black Ink it read.
"Hinata Namikaze wife of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze"
Location: The Village Hidden in the Leaves
"Yup, apparently the two of us are both of Naruto-kun's soulmates Sakura-san," Hinata laughed at her pink haired friends dumbfounded expression.
"But how?" Sakura asked and in turn the Hokage explained, "As I told Naruto-kun before when a new soul is created by Kami-sama it is split into two pieces and those pieces manifest themselves in us at birth usually divided evenly between two individuals right." Both girls nodded in unison so the Hokage continued.
"In your case however it would appear that when Kami-sama created your souls he actually split it up into three pieces those pieces being you two and Naruto-kun. "So you're saying we all need each other in order to live the happiest and most successful lives that we possibly can? Sakura asked.
"Yes but there's a little more to it then that, you see both Hinata and Naruto-kun share pieces of their own souls with yours so the stronger the love and affection you have for each other the stronger you will all become," the Hokage elaborated.
"Ok I understand and accept it," Sakura huffed in annoyance, "I guess I don't mind sharing him with Hinata she's definitely a better choice than Ino-pig."
"Thank you Sakura-san I was afraid you might hate me because of this." The Hyuga princess looked at Sakura with a small smile on her face. Sakura smiled back seeing the kindness and sincerity in Hinata's expression and pulled her into a tight hug after which she turned back to the Hokage.
"So I'm guessing based on our new names I'll be the matriarch of the Uzumaki clan and Hinata will be the matriarch of the Namikaze clan," Sakura half stated half questioned the Hokage.
"Yes I suspect you were chosen as an Uzumaki because of how similar you are to Kushina and Hinata was probably chosen as a Namikaze because of her similarities with Naruto's father but for now both of you will be considered Sakura and Hinata Uzumaki, at least until the time that Naruto's father's identity can be publicly revealed.
Also we have decided to keep all of the Soul Seals that were performed today a secret so when it comes to the majority of the village you are still Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga. We will have a meeting later today with both of your parents and Naruto-kun and I will reveal the rest of Naruto-kun's story to you then but for now farewell you two."
The Hokage's shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the two wives of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze still confused but with a better understanding of their soulmate and a comforting feeling that their questions would be answered at the meeting later tonight.
Ino had slowly started seeing Sasuke's memories and as she did, she began to experience Sasuke thoughts and emotions as if they were her own. She saw the young Sauske who was always compared to his elder brother Itachi and how he just wanted his father's love and acknowledgment.
How Sasuke trained hard to surpass his brother from an early age but what surprised her most, instead of jealousy and hatred for his elder brother, the only thing Ino could feel was the undying love Sasuke had for Itachi. Sasuke truly loved Itachi and as Ino began to feel happy for Sasuke she was suddenly transported to a dark room which she immediately recognized from Sasuke's other memories as the Uchiha living quarters.
It was then that the young Sasuke and Itachi came into view. At Itachi's feet Ino recognized two people dead on the floor, Sasuke's mother and father Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha. The sight of the two caused Ino to almost vomit but she failed since she was trapped inside of a memory, although that did little to help ease the younger Sasuke's stomach.
"Itachi, What, what is going on? Who killed mother and father? Why is everyone in the compound dead Itachi?" the seven year old Sasuke cried out in pain.
"Foolish little brother," Itachi responded by throwing a kunai impaling his brother in the shoulder. "What are you?" but before Saskue could finish his eyes met his brothers "Mangekyou Sharingan - Tsukuyomi!" Itachi shouted.
Through the Tsukuyomi Sasuke relived the brutal and horrific death of his parents for three days straight watching them die over and over again by his elder brother's hand. Ino had gone into shock from the Tsukuyomi as she was seeing the exact same genjutsu the same way he was.
She could feel Sasuke sadness and fear as his parents were taken from him again and again for what seemed like an eternity. Finally the genjutsu ended and Sasuke and Ino were set free, they both looked at Itachi with pure rage and hatred in their eyes. The genjutsu caused Sauske's sharingan to awaken with one tomoe in each eye but this didn't scare Itachi. He just stood there as he once again activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and started to explain it's secrets, "Little brother you may be one of the few who can use these eyes known as the Mangekyou, if you do manage to awaken it come and find me and kill me if you can." Itachi said coldly "There is a catch though,
You must take the life of your best friend, you must kill him only then will you have the power and hatred necessary to kill me."
Itachi knocked Sasuke unconscious inadvertently knocking Ino out as well. The last of Sasuke's memories, thoughts and emotions were transferred to Ino who opened her eyes mentally exhausted from the Soul Seal Jutsu as well as Itachi's Tsukuyomi.
Ino started to fall to the ground but she was caught before she hit the floor by the number one knuckle headed ninja himself Naruto Uzumaki.
"Kami your loud I was taking such a nice nap." Naruto smirked at the blonde in his arms and let her stand on her own. She was about to pound him for holding her like that when she was Sasuke's girl but didn't for two good reasons.
The first being that he had just saved her from smashing her face into the wood floor and the second being the designs that her new husband had drawn all over the blonde baka's face.
Ino burst out in a roar of laughter as Naruto stared at her with a dumbfounded expression which caused Ino to laugh even harder. When she did eventually calm down she put her hands out in front of her and a huge ball of blackish blue chakra was ejected out of the palms of her hands. It flew back towards the room Sasuke was in, it was then that Ino thanked Naruto for catching her and explained her reasoning for laughing.
"Damn teme," Naruto muttered as Ino pulled out her handkerchief and began to clean Naruto's face with it, she didn't catch the insult as she was deep in thought with one desire on the forefront of her mind.
'Itachi Uchiha, I promise I'm going to make you suffer for what you've done you bastard.'
Sasuke regained consciousness as the first orb of his and his soulmates chakra returned. He immediately noticed the color and could swear he could hear the sound of a woman nagging come from the orb.
"This one is definitely Ino," Sasuke groaned. Sasuke reluctantly took the orb of merged chakra into his hands and as he did his mind was flooded with Ino's thoughts, emotions, and memories.
The seals on Sasuke's right hand slowly began to form as he was transported to the first memory. Sasuke saw nothing at first but the world slowly started to come into view around him and he noticed he was in a place he knew much too well for his own liking. He was at the Uchiha memorial and that's when he saw her, a blonde girl with short hair and blue eyes.
She was standing over the memorial and then he saw the incredible display of flowers she had in her hands. She had a beautiful mix of red and white roses that even from where Sasuke was standing, could tell it must of cost a lot even if her parents did own the flower shop they would never give Ino that many flowers for free she must of had to work it off somehow.
She placed them down and as she turned to leave Sasuke saw his younger self confront Ino "What are you doing here? You're not an Uchiha right so why do you care if my family's dead huh?" the younger Sasuke questioned her in an angry and confused tone.
"I honestly don't like it when anyone is hurt or killed it makes me really sad," the seven year old Ino explained with a frown.
"I've also seen you here crying everyday since it happened and I just wanted you to know that there are still people in the village that care about you," as Ino finished her frown turned into a smile.
The elder Sasuke was stunned, how had he forgotten such an important conversation, Sasuke would never admit it but what the young Ino said was true he had gone their everyday and cried after the massacre but he had stopped one day and only went on occasion now. He had wondered what had made him stop and he realized.
'It was Ino's flowers, they made me feel like I wasn't completely alone and I knew that my parents were always being watched by her roses even if I wasn't there,' he thought to himself and for the first time in six years Sasuke Uchiha smiled his true smile.
However that vanished quickly when he saw his younger self throw a punch towards Ino's face as he screamed.
"I don't believe you! Your just making fun of me and my clan's death!" The elder Sasuke tried to stop his younger self but was surprised when he saw the younger Sasuke stop, a few inches short of Ino's face.
"Why didn't you hit me?" Ino questioned him, "My mom said to never hit girls who weren't enemy shinobi" the young Sasuke replied as he turned away from her and started walking away.
Sasuke suddenly felt a pair of arms surround him and he suddenly felt safe, warmth, it was like his mother had come back to life and was hugging him, the way she always used to when she would sneak up from behind him while playing ninja.
Sasuke turned around believing for a few moments that his mother was actually embracing him but when he saw that it was the blonde girl he immediately shoved her off startled by the feelings she had produced within him.
"Oww what was that for?" Ino asked him while she sat on the ground looking up at him, tears at the corners of her eyes.
"Sorry, you just don't understand." he replied.
"Then please help me to!" Ino almost begged him.
He tried explaining to her "The Uchiha are a cursed clan. It would be better for you to just, just leave me alone!" he said with a few tears of his own starting to form.
"Then I'll just have to be the Uchiha who ends that curse," Ino said to him with confidence and a blush adoring her face.
Sasuke turned to face her again shocked by her proclamation but as he did his cheek met a pair of lips.
"At least one day I hope." Ino finished after kissing him on the cheek. Both Sasuke's just stood there stunned, red slowly spreading throughout their faces.
Before she disappeared from view Sasuke managed to ask her a single question "What's your name?"
The young blonde turned to face him with a smile and some red on her cheeks.
"My name is Ino, Ino Yamanaka."
As the memory faded Sasuke smiled, Ino was different she had showed him something that day that no else had, that it was possible to feel love again and that even if his family was gone she at least truly loved him and was able to at least understand some of his pain.
In Sasuke's mind, he thought no one would be able to truly understand him but perhaps Ino could at least a little bit and perhaps he could afford to allow her entry into his closed heart.
With this final realization the seals finally set on Sasuke's right hand, first was the Yamanaka clan symbol and overlaying that the Uchiha's clan symbol. Sauske went to read the paper attached to his right hand, in big black ink it read.
"Sasuke Uchiha husband of Ino Yamanaka Uchiha"
Location: The Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Sasuke couldn't suppress a slight grin at being Ino's soulmate as a thought occurred to him.
'This jutsu really does affect the way we feel about each other, just a few hours ago I hated Ino but now dare I say I could almost hug her.' Sasuke groaned at that thought.
'I guess we're only experiencing each others memories but still I wonder what it's like if you don't share any memories with your soulmate?' the raven haired teen pondered.
Sasuke would get his answer in the next few minutes as a reddish black orb made its way back to Konoha and entered the room where Sasuke, the Hokage and Kakashi were located.
"Ready for round two Sasuke?" Kakashi asked him barely holding himself together due to his fits of laughter that had been caused by Sasuke's various facial expressions during the Soul Seal Jutsu. Sasuke groaned out a, "Yeah, let's finish this."
