Chapter-6

-Training ground three, the morning before the Chunin exam finals (Flashback).

Naruto was having second thoughts about the fight. He doubted himself. He didn't know if he could defeat the Hyuga prodigy, after all he was the strongest genin. He had come here to clear his mind; he knew that he could not train before a fight as wasting his stamina would decrease his chance of winning. He was currently leaning the wooden pole where he was tied during Kakashi's bell test with his eyes closed. He was so busy thinking that he did not hear the platinum blonde Yamanaka approaching him. She leaned on the pole next to Naruto's while looking at him.

"You know, Ichiraku ramen has special discounts because of the Chunin exams. I thought you'd be there." Ino said smiling.

Naruto slightly jumped after hearing her voice. He was surprised to see her as he didn't sense her coming. He composed himself before replying."I am going to Ichiraku later, before the fight. Can't fight on an empty stomach now, can I?"

"Hey, you seem down...Something on your mind?" Ino had noticed the grimness in his voice.

Naruto gave a small nod."Just worried. What if can't defeat Neji, I mean I promised to beat the crap out of him but what if I am not strong enough?"

"But you will Whiskers, you have trained hard for the past month, and if there is anyone who can defeat him, it's you. Just believe in yourself. You know, having confidence is winning half the battle."

"But how can you be so sure?"

"Because I know that you will give it all you've got. Because I know that you will rather die than give up. Because I believe in you and I believe that you will find out a way to defeat Neji."

After Ino said those words, Naruto felt all the doubt he had earlier disappear. Those simple words gave him confidence that he had longed to find. He now believed that he could and would defeat Neji. He pulled Ino into a hug and whispered in her ear. "Thank you Ino-chan." While burying his head in the crook of her neck.

Ino was surprised when she felt Naruto hug her. As soon as she felt his breath on her neck, she blushed a shade of crimson that she didn't even know existed. Unable to form words, she simply returned the hug.

He suddenly broke the hug, much to Ino's disappointment, and jumped on one of the wooden pole and then shouted."I am going to beat the crap out of you Neji, so you better be ready, dattebayo! You know Ino-chan, I'm heading towards Ichiraku now, you wanna come? My treat, for cheering me up."

"There's the loud mouthed unpredictable knucklehead ninja I know, you better beat the crap out of him, he's always going on about fate and destiny, I sometimes prefer the whole 'Lee' and 'Gai-sensei' drama over his meaningless rants." She then looked at Naruto with an apologetic smile."Sorry Naruto, I need to meet team in ten minutes, we are going to the Chunin exams together."

Naruto shuddered at the mention of the youthful duo and frowned a bit.

As soon as Ino noticed his frown, she replied," don't think that you're getting out of treating me"

"No, of course not. Actually after the Chunin exams, I'll take you out on a date I promise!" Naruto accidently replaced the word treat with date. As soon as he realized what he said, he slightly blushed. The tips of his ears became as red as Sasuke's Sharingan.

As soon as Ino heard what he said, she blushed a bit before responding."Y-Yeah, and it better be someplace other than Ichiraku, we have gone there so many times that I've lost count. I don't want to just sit there until you finish your fifty bowls of ramen while people stare at us" she slightly pouted. She gathered all her courage and pecked Naruto on the cheek and said, "I need to go, but I'm rooting for you Naruto, I hope you win." With that she left him alone with his thoughts.

Naruto was speechless and could barely contain his happiness, Ino had just made this day one of the best days in his life.

(Flash back end)

-A few hours before Sasuke's return, The Uzumaki safe house.

Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to return. He was currently pacing in front of the gates of the Uzumaki Estate.

"Kitsune, stop pacing! It isn't going to make Neko arrive earlier!" Jiraya scolded Naruto from under the tree he was leaning against. Oh how he just wanted to visit the hot springs of The Hot Water Country to do some 'research'.

"I can't help it Pervy sage, he's supposed to arrive today and with my Ramen-chan!" Naruto was clearly just excited to see his Ramen or 'The food of the gods', as he called it. He had heard that there was a ramen stand in Sora-ku with amazing ramen and wanted to taste it ever since.

-Four hours later

"He. Is. Late!" Naruto's eyebrow was slightly twitching, he hadn't eaten anything for the past seven hours because Sasuke was going to arrive with his ramen, and he wanted to savor it.

A few minutes later he sensed two familiar chakra signatures heading towards them, and immediately recognized them, Sasuke and Kara. He started working on his barrier, so no one could see or hear them.

The barrier was activated as soon as Sasuke and Kara entered it.

"You're late!"

"Here we go again" The white haired Sannin muttered under his breath.

"Hello to you too, Dobe" Sasuke removed his mask and smirked.

"Oh sorry, hello teme, now stop smirking and give me my ramen."

"Hn. your ramen is sealed inside this special scroll which preserves and keeps food warm." Sasuke said while removing a scroll from inside his jacket.

"I know, I made it." Naruto deadpanned.

Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan."And now it's going to burn! Amaterasu!" The scroll burst into black flames and turned to ash almost immediately.

'Those are the same flames that Itachi used to escape my toad mouth trap all those years ago. So the cats helped him train his eyes and to have learnt it at such a young age is just brilliant.' Jiraya thought from under his tree.

"TEME! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR MY RAMEN-CHAN. AND YOU JUST BURNED THEM, HOW CRUEL ARE YOU! I THOUGHT OF YOU AS MY BROTHER BUT YOU BETRAYED ME? I HAVENT EATEN FOR SEVEN HOURS AND YOU BURNT MY RAMEN-CHAN!"

Sasuke burst out laughing."Relax dobe; it was an old useless scroll, as to why I did it, just for my entertainment purposes. You didn't think I actually burnt your ramen did you? After you almost cut my fingers off one time, I know not to come between you and your ramen. Here" Sasuke said handing him the scroll he had just removed from his pouch.

"Bastard!" Naruto glared at Sasuke who just smirked back at him, before snatching the scroll that contained his ramen and going towards the house, baby talking to his ramen. Sasuke just walked towards where Jiraiya was.

"Long time no see, Sasuke! Man I wonder if that gaki loves anything more than Ramen. He ate ramen in every single town we visited!"

"Hn." Sasuke gave a small nod."You get used to it after a while. So, how strong has Naruto gotten?"

"Stronger. The nine-tails has given him access to four tails of his power. The nine-tails tried to add one more tail of chakra but Naruto's body cannot handle it. He has suggested Naruto to wait for a year and master the four tails, before opening the whole seal and gaining access to all of Kurama's chakra. How about you? What all did you accomplish with the cats?"

"The cats have a lot of scrolls on the Sharingan so I trained my Mangekyo Sharingan with them. They also have an old cat with Mangekyo Sharingan in her eyes, gifted by to her by the Uchiha so helped train my eyes."

Jiraiya's expression suddenly turned to a serious one."Sasuke, I have been meaning to talk to you. Even though the nine tails and Naruto are friends and the nine tails is going to give him chakra of his own free will, the chakra is too powerful to handle and even the nine tails cannot stop him if he goes on a rampage. And if the fifth tail comes out, Naruto will feel overwhelmed with the power and will let his emotions take control of him. I know you know how it feels; after all you have Orochimaru's curse mark. So if and when the fifth tail appears, I want you to put this seal on him, The Fourth Hokage made a few of these long ago with his wife so that if the seal loosened, they could control the nine tails" Jiraiya said while handing Sasuke three seal tags.

"Don't worry, I won't let that happen." He knew what effect power could have on one's mind. He himself was once blinded by the need for power and his emotions once, which is why he wanted to go to Orochimaru. But now he regrets even considering that." Has this ever happened before?"

"No, but better safe than sorry! Anyway, I need to leave. I need to gather intel for the leaf. I'll keep you updated if I find anything about the Akatsuki or Orochimaru. See you later and don't let him eat too much ramen" Jiraiya said while taking his leave.

.- Three weeks later. The two were at the gates of the hidden sand

"State your business in the sand and your village." one of the guards asked the two.

"We are here to meet the Kazekage." Naruto spoke in a calm tone.

"Kazekage-sama is busy and does not have time to meet you!"

"Busy? Doing what, paperwork? Tell him, that his first friend is here so see him."

As soon as Gaara heard of his first friend, he immediately thought about Naruto. He was told that Naruto died, but still had hope as they did not manage to find his body. He rushed to the gates on his hovering sand platform.

"Hey Gaara, long time no see? Now, do not mention my name. At all. Actually we would like to discuss something with you in private."

"Yes, follow me."

As soon as the three reached Gaara's office, Gaara dismissed all the anbu and Naruto immediately put up his barrier.

"Naruto?"

"Who else?" Naruto replied taking off his mask. There was a smile on his face.

"And who is your companion?"

"Sasuke Uchiha" Sasuke said taking off his mask.

"Explain" Gaara said with a curios look on his face.

- Thirty minutes later, after explaining everything to Gaara. (And Naruto talking about the ramen from Sora-ku)

"So you want me to sign a peace treaty with you?"

"Yes"

"I can sign it but only for a few months or a year max. I was recently made the Kazekage and I can't make huge decisions like these without consulting the council and to be honest, I don't think that they will trust two people that wear masks and hide their identity. You will need to earn their trust."

"Fine. Well will do whatever we have to do to earn their trust. Right Sasuke?"

"Hn" Sasuke never really liked discussing politics so he always let Naruto handle it. He only answered when asked a question or to correct Naruto.

"I think I have a solution! We need two bodyguards for the Kage booth during the Chunin exam finals that are happening in a few months. And it will definitely help if you persuade the hidden mist to participate. Then there might not be a problem to sign a long term treaty with you."

"Okay. Are any of the people we know participating from the hidden leaf?" Naruto asked, secretly hoping that Ino was participating.

"Actually, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Sakura, Sai, Hiroto, Choji, Ino and Tenten are participating. Neji was promoted to jonin and Rock lee was promoted to Chunin earlier this year."

"Hn. I think we should accept the offer. We can also gather info on the military strength of the villages participating." Sasuke whispered to Naruto.

"We accept the offer, Gaara."

'Guess I will be completing that promise of taking you out on a date after the Chunin exams after all, Ino-chan.' He thought to himself before continuing to catch up with Gaara.

A/N:

Also, please comment your opinions about the flashback, I like to read them. They also give me ideas on how to write the next chapter. The next chapter might take a bit longer as I am writing some fight scenes, but I will try to post it by next Friday. The next chapter is going to be about The Chunin Exam Finals. Also how was the flashback? Also do you want a Naruto vs. Sasuke fight in the next chapter? If you have any ideas let me know. That's all for now.

Peace!