"Ino says that we're traumatized, both of us. Sasuke… Sakura, too." Toru shrugged. "She keeps files on all of us, apparently."

Naruto gave him a dry look. "I swear... If that's the way you usually start conversations..."

In a way, there was something very Uchiha about his bluntness. Well, not that he really had any right to complain about somebody else being so plain-spoken. He was not any better.

"I'm not even sure what she means by it, we're ninja." Toru continued.

Naruto stayed silent for a while. "…What did she say exactly?"

"Uh… That seeing Kurenai-sensei die, being so helpless, led to severe trauma, and the only way we could make sense of the world was through finding strength."

"…" He had never really taken the time to think about this particular event. Better to move it aside and push through to the other side.

"And it was even worse for you, she said. That since you've been thrown out into the world — a world that seemed to want you dead — at thirteen… probably led to-"

"I think I get it. She told me something similar. Same for my lack of a real maternal… or even paternal figure." Naruto interrupted, sighing. "It might be true, too, but there's not much I can do about it."

"Parental figures, huh."

Silence stretched for a while.

"That day…" Toru began. "Was a warm summer day. It felt just like today."

"What are you talking about…?"

Something about Toru's tone made him a bit worried.

"Eh, just a story about the past."

"Go ahead, then."

"I never told you about my parents, did I?" Toru asked rhetorically.

"You didn't."

"Thought so." Toru nodded. "Again, it was a warm day, I spent it playing outside with Sasuke." Toru continued. "When I came home…"

He stared at some point into the distance.

"There was red everywhere." Toru said, with a vacant expression.

"…" Naruto took a sharp breath.

"She was murdered. By my father."

"Toru…"

"She wasn't dead yet when I came. She told me to come closer. So I did, shaking." He chuckled. "You know what she told me, with her last words?"

"I…"

"'You shouldn't have been born at all.'"

"That's… horrible." Naruto whispered.

"I guess so. Her marriage with my father wasn't one of love, and she had loved someone else. But when Shisui's mother died, mine was married off to our father by the clan. My brother is a prodigy - there's no other word for it - and the elders decided that it would be a waste not to try and see if our father could just… make another." He paused. "Instead… they got me." Toru chuckled darkly.

Naruto said nothing, unwilling to interrupt.

"Oh, the clan realized soon after that I was no Shisui, no Itachi either, so they more or less left me alone. What they didn't account for… was our father losing his mind."

"Toru…"

"Yeah. One day, he simply didn't recognize my mother anymore… and well, when he noticed an intruder in his home… he did what he did best as a shinobi. He fell on old reflexes. And the worst part was he didn't even realize what he had done. When he talked to me, later that evening… he was acting so casually. As if his wife weren't lying nearby in a puddle of her own blood." Toru smiled grimly.

Naruto said nothing.

"Anyways, maybe I'm wrong... He may have noticed something was wrong, because he died a few months later. We never really told him what he had done, and the clan just isolated him somewhere, instead of putting a crazy man in jail."

Another pause.

"Don't get me wrong." Toru chuckled a bit. "I'm not saying this one-up you, it's not a pain competition."

Naruto snorted. "I didn't think you did."

"It's the first time I really tell somebody... outside of the clan about it, though." Toru scratched his neck. "I'm not sure what came over me."

"Thanks... for your trust, then." Naruto smiled a bit.

Silence.

"She was wrong, though." Naruto said.

"Huh?"

"Your mother was wrong." Naruto said. "None of this was your fault."

"Isn't it?" Toru chuckled. "If it weren't for me being born, she wouldn't have been there at all. She'd be alive, too." He tried to shrug. "Anyway, the event unlocked my Sharingan, and from that moment on, I had no more choice anymore. My clan suddenly was very interested in me."

"They made sure you'd become a ninja." Naruto finished.

"I didn't want to be a shinobi either, Naruto." Toru said. "I spent most of my life wishing I could run away from it. I'm fine with it, by now, though."

"I… I understand that." Naruto nodded.

"I knew you would." Toru chuckled.

"You never said anything. About this."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Should I have…? Back then?"

Naruto just sighed.

"...You know, even now, I'm sorry for putting all this on you. I don't know why I told you in the first place." Toru said. "It's just… I used to think things would have been better if I…"

"If you…?"

"If I'd never been born." Toru shrugged.

Naruto paused. "…You're wrong."

"Am I, though?"

"Yes." Naruto simply said. "I… may have thought the same way as you did, in the past. That I was unwanted. But… we've got people who love us, who care about us."

And he had seen just how bad his childhood could possibly have been, in different circumstances, too.

"Hey, I'm not saying I think that way now." Toru corrected.

"Even then. Just because your mother blamed you wrongly for the events that happened… Doesn't mean you have to do it too."

Toru chuckled. "That's such a simplistic way to see things."

"The truth can be this simple. It probably doesn't change the rawness of her absence, but… She was wrong."

"…"

"And you're not to blame for anything that happened then." Naruto assured him.

"…How can you be so sure?" Toru let out, his voice barely loud enough to be heard.

"Because you had absolutely no choice in the matter. Not in being born… Not in your mother's death." Naruto shook his head. "You were a kid back then."

"So what if I was…? It still-"

"The idea that you were somehow responsible for everything is something you came up with as a kid."

"…"

"Do you really think that back then, as a traumatized kid… you had everything figured out?" Naruto asked.

"…No. Probably not." Toru mumbled.

"Then why do you still believe it…?"

Toru stared at him.

Then he breathed out. "Yeah… Yeah. You're right."

After a pause, Naruto spoke again. "I wouldn't want you to be gone, either."

"Oh, really…?" Toru chuckled. "You're going to make me cry." He mocked lightly.

"No, I mean it. I missed you." Naruto said with a half-smile. "I'm glad you're alive… and I'm glad you're here, too."

"…thanks." Toru said hoarsely.

After some inner debate, Naruto told him about his little situation.

"I am your great-great-something-grandfather's reincarnation."

"I don't quite get the punchline, I have to admit." Toru said wryly.

"I'm afraid of losing my mind, because there's — quite literally — a man who says my soul belongs to him, and that I am him."

"What the hell are you rambling about, now? Did you smoke something from Kagari's stash?" He had met the guy yesterday, and was not particularly impressed.

"I see Ōtsutsuki Indra in my nightmares and there's some of his chakra in my soul." Naruto tried again. More literally.

Silence stretched.

"What." Toru blinked. "…Did you talk to Ino about this?"

"Yes. She's not so familiar with reincarnation either… surprisingly."

"Uh, that's… rough, man."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

Toru said nothing for a while.

"...Do you at least get some fancy eye powers? Sage eyes… Sharingan, Byakugan or I don't know…?"

"Nope."

"Uh. Any particular desire to set things on fire?"

"No. Why are you asking?"

"No reason. Why don't you ask the woman… What's her name? The catgirl that Ino mentioned?"

Naruto stared at him. Yugito. Why didn't he think of it?

"That's… an idea." He nodded. "Yeah, I'll do just that, very soon."

"You're welcome."

A comfortable silence stretched over the cliff.

"Does my ancestor watch you at all times, though?" Toru broke it. "Like when you're-"

"Sure hope not."

There were times Naruto wondered if his ability to feel emotions the normal way was damaged.

Even after such a heavy conversation, and confessing many of his own issues... he felt ready to move on to the next thing.

It was as though his mind just bounced back from whatever got thrown at it, for bad and for good. And it was jarring, very jarring.

He could go from feeling terrible to… normal again, way too soon. At least compared to what he saw in other people.

The upside…? It meant his mood was already much better now, but Naruto still didn't feel like going to sleep.

The first thing he did was create a few clones to plan for some things. He'd have to do the actual work himself tomorrow, but sharpening the axe was always the most important part for this kind of project.

The second thing...

'Are you up?' He tried to send a thought to Ino, not really expecting much.

Naruto was walking along the coast, alone, feeling very much awake.

'…You don't need to broadcast so loud, it's like you're screaming into my head.' Ino sent back.

'My bad.'

'It's fine, really. You're new at this.'

'Thanks.'

'Anyways, yeah. I'm awake. Did you want something?'

'Wanna go on a night boat trip? Right now.'

There's no answer for a little while. Then he felt some excitement that he knew was not coming from him. For an instant, he thought he saw Ino lying on the couch, her long hair strewn across the pillow, a smile on her face.

'Do you even know how to sail?'

'Shinjiro taught me.'

'Is it safe?'

'The sea is calm tonight. Besides, we're ninja. We'll be fine.'

A pause.

'Okay.'

'Meet me on the southernmost island, then. We'll be back by morning.'

Naruto felt a smile come to his face when Ino finally arrived with a cracking sound.

She was wearing a purple sundress, her hair in a high ponytail.

"Have you waited for long?" She greeted him.

"Not really." Naruto shook his head. "Just making sure everything was in order with the boat." With a flourish, he pointed at the large boat, whose previous red sails had been sealed away, for the time being. The propellers would be enough.

"That's… a huge boat." Ino whistled. "Are you sure we'll be fine handling it? And by 'we'… let's be honest, I mean 'you', mostly."

Naruto laughed and summoned a clone.

"…Yeah, true." Ino chuckled. "There is that."

"After you." Naruto gave an exaggerated bow.

"Oh me, oh my." Ino laughed. "A woman could get used to this."

Ino stared at the vast expanse of the ocean.

The scent of it drew her attention. This was the first time she really was in the thick of it - without danger looming over her head. The sun was setting over the horizon, its fiery red burning itself into her mind.

However, the sea wasn't the only thing that took her breath away. Close to her, wearing an open shirt that revealed entirely too much skin, Naruto looked entirely at ease, a carefree expression upon his face.

The wind blew through his long blond hair, billowing through the linen of his shirt. Ino admired his build in ways she knew she probably shouldn't.

He looked at her, and she made sure she wasn't broadcasting her thoughts again.

"Enjoying the sea?" He asked with an easy grin.

"Very much."

"I had the feeling you would." He laughed.

Naruto looked somewhere to the left of the ship.

"Oh. Careful there." He said easily. Before she knew what he meant, and before the entire boat shook, he pulled her close to him with one heavy arm. "Waves."

His frame was hard against her back, and warm too. She could feel every breath he took. There was no way she'd turn around to face him, with her face so red and two peaks in the fabric of her dress.

The boat rocked under their feet, with a groan, at a slow, languid pace.

Naruto didn't seem in any hurry to remove his arm, either. Instead, she felt his chakra mingling with hers slowly. Ino didn't know whether he was doing it on purpose or not.

In any case, it did feel very comfortable, and soon she was reaching for his chakra too.

Naruto was tall, tall enough to block out whatever sun was still up in the air. Ino was in the shade, but she didn't feel cool.

And the worst part was… she knew he could hear some of her traitorous thoughts. Just like she could feel some of his… and something pressing against her ass.

Mouth dry, she hoped he couldn't feel how warm she felt. She was ready to blame it all on Fire users being warmer on average — or something equally false — nevermind the fact that she barely qualified as one.

"What about you…?" She asked, voice thick.

"Hmm?"

"Do you… like the ocean?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Sure. It feels peaceful. Sometimes it's silent, sometimes it's loud… but all of it feels… familiar."

Ino felt him grin, and for a second she wanted to turn around, consequences be damned, just to see it. To kiss him, maybe.

"Want to see something…?"

"Yes." She managed to make it sound casual, too.

Standing behind her, he reached for her hands, focusing.

"I'm not sure how to do this exactly, but…"

She felt it right away.

As a Yamanaka, her sensing ability is based on different principles than the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, which was what Karin basically taught Naruto. Well, a watered-down version.

When their abilities combined, showing them the underwater world with eye-piercing color — but in truth were two different ways of perceiving chakra textures and signatures blending together — a sense of wonder tugged at Ino's throat.

The whole world seemed so much bigger.

A laugh bubbled up within Ino.

"It's amazing." She said.

"It is, isn't?" Naruto smiled.

Maybe Naruto had been wrong, earlier on, thinking that he couldn't feel emotions the usual way.

The way he felt right now was not that different from the way he now knew Ino did.

They were sitting on the deck, sharing a bottle and laughing.

Her hair was now piled messily on top of her head, her eyes were bright, her lips parted… and her thoughts were getting more and more open to him. It was almost enough to make him blush.

'He's gorgeous - I'm in trouble.'

Naruto drank straight from the bottle. He still felt thirsty, despite having drank way more than Ino had.

Sake burned down Naruto's throat. He set the bottle down.

Maybe he should have gone for something else, in the end. In front of him, Ino drank the last of it and grimaced as well.

"I should have gone for water." She said, once she noticed that he saw her reaction.

He laughed easily. "Maybe we both should have."

She set the bottle down, not really paying attention to it. It fell and started rolling away from her.

"Ah, shit." She laughed, a bit drunkenly, turned around and reached out to grab it.

In doing so, she gave Naruto a full view of what she was wearing under her sundress. Or rather… what she was not wearing.

His brain froze for a second. He stared at her long legs, her thick ass, and the pink of her sex, uncomprehending.

Naruto was still staring, open-mouthed, when she sat up again.

"My god!" She laughed. "This must have looked so goofy." Ino took a look at him. "Are… you okay?"

"…Yeah. Yeah."

"What is…" She probably felt his thoughts, because one second later, she understood exactly what he had seen. "Ah!"

She blushed bright red, hiding her face in her hands.

"This is… Noooo."

"…Sorry, I saw everything." He tried to look sorry. "Maybe… it's a bit risky, wearing no panties out in public."

She groaned. "I'm not doing this usually, don't be stupid."

Ino then realized what she had said, and proceeded to palm her face in her hand.

"You…?" Naruto asked dumbly.

Then she pointed her finger at him accusingly. "You told me you liked promiscuous women! I just… thought that…"

Ah, that clumsy word again. He could remember something of the conversation in Shimo.

"You came here like this… for me? Over a dumb joke I made…?"

"You were joking..?" She stared at him, as if she didn't believe what she was hearing.

"Well, yes. Of course! Who the hell still calls people promiscuous. It's so… old-fashioned. Just call me a slut, or something, if you really feel like it." Naruto tried to joke.

"I don't care about that. You should have told me about it earlier!"

"Wha-? How..? None of this makes any sense at all." He groaned.

"No sense?" Ino almost growled. "I did it for you because I thought this was what you'd like!"

"I…" Naruto deflated. This was the kind of logic that only made sense when you took in account the fact that she was... Ino. "Look, you don't have to do anything like this for me."

She was looking away, her eyes a bit wet from frustration.

"It was stupid anyway." She admitted. "I know how you see things. I can't be your… mistress. Or your fuck friend, whatever you call it." She added, noticing he was bout to say something.

Naruto shook his head, trying to get some clarity. "I would never ask you to be. Nor anything you don't want."

"Then what do you want from me?!" She said, finally at end of her rope. "We'we been playing this stupid game for a while, now. I know it's not just friendship."

She could feel most of his thoughts, now. No wonder she had finally acted.

Naruto thought.

"I… want to be with you." He finally admitted, both to her and himself. "In a way you're fine with."

Ino looked at him, with an almost pleading look.

"Then be with me, and with me only."

"Ino…" Naruto sounded pained.

"It used to be a silly dream I had when I was a kid, but I…"

'I never changed my mind, even when I thought you were dead. When did you?'

Ouch.

His stomach dropped.

"I care about you, Ino. I really do. But I can't be with you the way you want me to be."

"I only want you." She said, nearing tears. "Why can't I be enough?"

"It's not about you." Naruto shook his head. "I… don't want to commit to anyone this way. I can't depend on a single person like that. It's… something I just can't do."

'The last time I tried looking for love was during my childhood.'

And as Konohamaru, Muremaru, Asuma... Hell, even Ren. As all of them could attest; Biwako… and Hiruzen were the wrong people for that. They were consummate shinobi.

They would raise strong soldiers… all of them with a troubled relationship with the two of them. Just because you could joke around with Hiruzen, or ask Biwako for advice from time to time... didn't mean much.

Again, they were shinobi.

It was hard to say where the mask stopped, and where the honesty began. No 'kind old man' act would hide the steel behind Hiruzen's eyes. No polite smiles would hide the purposeful distance Biwako kept between herself and people.

And well… There were so many secrets they had kept between them, and Naruto could only guess at what sort of trouble the leftover ones spelled for him.

He knew Ino could hear his inner monologue, and he felt her wince.

A pause.

"I…" Ino hesitated.

"Yes…?"

Naruto tried not to hear her thoughts. He really did. She was thinking hard about something, debating whether to do it or not-

"I'm in love with you." Ino said bluntly.

Naruto thought he misheard her. Her thoughts said the same, though. She noticed his confusion, his surprise.

"I really, really love you." Ino repeated.