Chapter-23


As soon as Asuma told his team about the mission, Ino rushed back home. Packing her bag and making sure that she was well prepared, she sighed as she put the bag up on her shoulders. She was going to have to learn Fuinjutsu from Naruto sometime soon. She checked the sharpness of her Tanto and put a few more kunai in her kunai pouch.

Leaving the room, she headed straight towards Naruto who was at the table, reading a book on fuinjutsu. With a smile, she wrapped her hands around him from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Hey." She said, softly as Naruto's face morphed into a smile.

"Morning, are you going on a mission?" He asked after seeing her all dressed up.

"Yeah. It's an A Rank. We need to find the two criminals who kidnapped Chiriku-san who is the head priest of the Fire Temple and was one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve along with Asuma-sensei." She said, as he pulled her onto his lap and she put her hands around his neck.

"Two criminals who were able to defeat one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve? There aren't many who can do that so just be safe, okay?" He asked sincerely, gazing into her icy blue orbs. His eyes were filled with pure concern for his blonde partner.

"Don't worry, I will be careful. You won't get rid of me that easily." She replied with a slight chuckle.

"I don't plan on ever getting rid of you." His face brightened up in a smile and he gazed at her lower lip. Ino noticed this and closed the gap between them. The kiss was short and sweet and after that, Naruto kissed her forehead. "You better leave while you can flower girl because if you don't, I don't know if I can control my urge of just not letting you go."

"Well I guess then I need to leave." She said before getting off Naruto's lap and pecking him on the lips once more. "Love you! Bye!" She said and closed the door to the flat as soon as she heard his 'Love you too' in response.

-Training Ground 3

"I am guessing that Naruto has already taught you the Rasengan." Kakashi said as a Rasengan appeared in his hand and Aiko nodded. "Well, Naruto and Ino are the only ones to add a chakra nature to it and make a complete jutsu. When you add a nature to the Rasengan and get an incomplete jutsu, it looks something like this." He said as the Rasengan changed into a Chidori. "This was what happened when I added lightning nature to the Rasengan. A jutsu which was incomplete in the beginning but was completed by the Sharingan. Now you need to decide whether you want to add an element to the Rasengan or do you want to come up with an entirely new jutsu."

"I think I want to make an entirely new jutsu. Adding a chakra nature to the Rasengan has already been done, I want to do something out of the ordinary." She said with a twinkle in her eye and Kakashi nodded. Being Naruto's sister, people just assumed that most of her jutsus were just made or developed by Naruto but she wanted something entirely different. She wanted to make a name for herself and that would not be possible as long as she walked in his footsteps. Sure, she had made a few jutsus but they were mainly identical to other jutsus of different natures and the only person who could teach her to make a jutsu completely from scratch would be the one who invented the 'Lightning Cutter', Kakashi.

"Okay. The first step is picking an element. Since the affinities you have are Fire Release, Water Release and Boil Release, pick one of them." After she picked her prized Boil Release, Kakashi continued. "Well now comes the creative part, what do you want it to do. Offensive, defensive, slow and painful, fast and silent, huge and sharp, small but deadly. The possibilities are endless, it's up to you which matches your fighting style and which one would be easier for you to use in battle." Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

"Elegant, quick and precise." She said, she didn't usually like large jutsus, the speed wasn't fast enough and so the enemy could escape. She liked to know his chances of survival, that made calculating much more easier and accurate for her. "Preferably a long range." She added just to get most out of the jutsu.

"Okay, now think of a long range practical weapon, visualise it if you will, once you have it down to a certain shape, we can actually start working on it." Kakashi said as Aiko closed her eyes, trying to visualize the perfect weapon, the perfect shape and the perfect size. Meanwhile, Kakashi just removed his orange book and started reading it.

"I think I got it." Aiko said, opening her eyes. She had found the perfect weapon and seeing this; Kakashi sadly pocketed his book and decided to start on developing the new jutsu.

-Western part of Konoha

"I swear if Lee had insisted once more about running a thousand laps around the village just to celebrate that we were alive, I would have used my Sharingan and cast a genjutsu on him just to make him believe that we ran along with him." Sasuke said. He was annoyed more than anything, he just didn't get how a heavy leg workout would be fun; Naruto on the other hand was fully down for it and almost raced Lee before they were stopped by the rest of team nine and Sasuke.

"Speak for yourself, a race with bushy brows to show our YOUTHFULLNESS was a great idea but you, Neji and Tenten had to be killjoys and restrain the poor guy." Naruto said with disappointment evident in his tone.

"Well if that's the case then you shouldn't have pushed me to see our old friends and the rookie nine." Sasuke said, getting more annoyed at the blond beside him. Before Naruto could say anything, a blur of white pounced over him and started licking him furiously while he laughed.

"Holy shit, Akamaru, you sure have grown a lot. I thought that I had hit a major growth spurt but looking at you, I am not sure." Naruto said chuckling as he remembered the days when he was the shortest in the group and Sasuke maintained his distance, he was more of a cat person and getting fresh saliva on himself before lunch just wasn't a great idea. Just behind, team eight came along.

"Hey Shino, Hinata, Kiba!" Naruto shouted, getting back to his feet and dusting his outfit. He was just wearing a t-shirt with anbu pants.

"Glad that you remember me, Naruto. I thought that maybe you would have forgotten me since I wasn't on the Sasuke rescue mission. Speaking of which, Sasuke seems well and alive so congratulations on not going to the snake." Shino said with almost a flat expressionless voice and whatever expression was on his face was clearly hidden by the high collared coat which he was wearing.

"I am afraid that you're quite a hard person to forget and I don't think I have ever seen anyone with glasses like those." Naruto said, gesturing to Shino's glasses while Sasuke talked to Hinata.

Sasuke got on quite well with the Hyuga, even in the academy; she wasn't as irritating as his fan girls. She was quite soft and calm unlike other girls who were screeching at that time. Kiba was a bit jealous seeing his Hinata converse so politely with Sasuke and Hinata noticed this so she gently squeezed his palm to let him know that he had nothing to worry about. This however didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke who slightly smirked at this. 'So the mutt had the guts to finally ask her out, well at least he succeeded for the first time since he lost so poorly in the Chunin exams.' Not wanting to be rude, he wished them all the best which made the couple look at each other shyly before turning their gaze back to the raven.

"Well, I think that I might be able to make an antidote, Naruto." Shino said, pocketing the scroll containing a few of Torune's insects. "In the mean time, we must take our leave. Kurenai-sensei had called for us and we have to be there within ten minutes." Shino said and the two nodded.

"Don't worry about it; let me know if you have an insect that can counter this one. Bye, Hinata, Kiba!" He exclaimed as the three took their leave. "So Sasuke, will you join me for lunch?"

"Cant. I already have lunch planned with Aiko." Sasuke said, Aiko was actually the only person that he wanted to see right now. He wanted to hear about her training and anything else she talked about; he wanted to see her eyes light up with the passion and determination as seeing that always made his day much better. "But since Ino is away on a mission and you hate staying home alone, join us for dinner. I am cooking and maybe stay over till she returns. After all it is your home too." Sasuke said, cheering up his best friend who nodded vigorously at the offer making Sasuke smile a bit.

"So you and my sister?" Naruto asked in a questioning tone, implying that they two were a thing of some sort. This immediately made Sasuke go red.

"No...I...We-no. We're not a couple or anything." Sasuke managed to stutter out but his face was still as red as the tomatoes he likes so much. He knew for a fact that he was attracted to her but she deserved someone better, he knew that he couldn't commit to a relationship or anything for that matter. The massacre had left a mark on him and no matter how hard he tried to get rid of it, he couldn't. It was the same reason that he was reluctant to being social. Maybe finally confronting his brother would help him out but it was just a possibility.

"Oh well, that's rather unfortunate." Naruto said. He actually didn't mind Sasuke and his sister being a thing and even he could see that there was definitely some chemistry present there. "I approved of you being her boyfriend but-" Before he could continue, his eye caught the sight of the dango stand. "Since you're busy for lunch, get a plate of dango with me. I have been dying to tell you about something that I found about the snake's hickey on your neck."

This caught Sasuke's attention, he wanted to get rid of the curse seal for a while and most of what Naruto and Jiraiya tried didn't seem to work. Naruto wasn't one to give up though so he just kept on researching about the seal. The last time he had experimented on the seal, he had failed to get it off but managed to completely seal it. After telling Sasuke about the progress he made, he left to check out an Uzumaki safe house nearby while Sasuke headed towards training ground 3 to pick up Aiko for lunch.

After arriving, he saw Aiko concentrating hard. A vein popped on her forehead as she gritted her teeth. Her eyes were closed, her hand was locked in a bird seal and there was an almost golden hue radiating from the small of her back. Meanwhile, Kakashi was lazing around and reading his book. Sasuke sighed, he hadn't expected a lot from Kakashi but had at least expected him to pay close attention to Aiko and guide her. Didn't the guy know anything about first impressions? Seeing Sasuke, the white haired jonin waved while calling his name, breaking the redhead's concentration. On opening her eyes, she looked like she wanted to punch something but on seeing Sasuke, her face morphed into a smile. After bowing to Kakashi and asking for his permission to leave, she joined the raven who just gave her a smirk. The two then walked in comfortable silence to one of Sasuke's recommended restaurants. Instead of taking a normal table, Sasuke opted to sit on the bar sized table just in front of two chefs who were making food in front of them. With a questioning gaze, she slid into a seat right next to him.

"So what do you recommend?" Aiko said, flipping through the menu. She was new in the village and so she would rather play it safe and order something guaranteed to be good instead of going for something that just sounds good.

"You could keep it simple and order their famous Sukyaki." He said before sticking an edamame bean, which the restaurant had given them with the menu as an appetizer, in his mouth and sliding the beans into his mouth using his teeth and placing the pod shell in an empty plate.

"Or?" Aiko asked with an eyebrow raised in question. She liked knowing all of her options before picking one of them to reduce the chances of regret.

"Or you could start with the well toasted, garlicky dumplings, Gyoza along with perfectly grilled pieces of chicken, Yakitori. After that, you could have the Karaage, which is deep fried chicken with a side of sushi rice and some curry. And you could end it all up with the delicate and simple but difficult to master, Suimono soup." Sasuke said with a smirk. He knew for a fact that Aiko would prefer variety instead of just a plate of Sukyaki and when he wasn't wrong as she immediately licked her lips and asked him to order all of this. "So how's training going on?" Sasuke asked after placing the order.

"It's horrible. Kakashi senpai is helpful sometimes but he isn't the one making a new jutsu." Aiko said as a groan escaped her lips. "It's like I haven't been having any progress for the past couple of hours and that lowers the chances of success which is even more depressing."

"Well, then instead of thinking about the rate of success, know that you are going to finish it before the end of the week. You know what, just for some extra motivation, when you finish the jutsu; I'll show you the Konoha police station and take you out to another session of horse riding." Sasuke said as smirk appeared on his face. Unintentionally, his hand lightly brushed the part of his neck where the snake Sannin had left his mark. As he recalled what Naruto had told him about the curse mark, he gritted his teeth.

"Sasuke?" Aiko's hand reached out for his other hand which was resting on his lap as she noticed the dark look on his face. "Is something wrong?" She asked, snapping Sasuke back to reality.

"Yeah, it's about Orochimaru's seal, it has something to do with his chakra and in the worst case scenario, he might have left a bit of his chakra inside of me, I don't know for sure though. Naruto was a bit vague while explaining it but he'll explain it in detail when he comes home for dinner. "Sasuke said, popping a piece of Gyoza into his hand. He didn't let go of Aiko's warm hand though, he liked the way it perfectly fit into the palm of his hand. Aiko gave him a sad smile. She knew that the Uchiha hated the Sannin and so decided to distract his brain from thinking of all the negative possibilities.

"This is actually really good." Aiko said after eating her own dumpling. "I think that after sushi, this is the best food I've ever had." She said popping another one into her mouth. Her warm brown eyes shone with happiness as she savoured the dumpling. Sasuke had heard from Jiraiya that food is one way to a girl's heart and seeing the redhead in front of him, the theory was proven true. "Anyway, which book are you currently reading?" She asked, prying her eyes from the plate of dumplings.

"It's a book about samurai and I don't know if they are true warriors or if they are just dumb people."

"And why is that?"

"They are considered as some of the most elite warriors and believe that cowardice is the worst form of dishonour. Unlike shinobi, they would commit suicide if they brought dishonour to their family. Something which I applaud about them but on the other hand, they commit suicide if captured by an enemy instead of finding a way out. Even if they are outnumbered, instead of escaping to fight another day, they stand their ground and fight to death. This is where I don't agree with them. What do you think?"

"From what you have told me, I think that samurai are highly fatalistic. They accept their fate instead of changing it. Like if I was captured, I'd try to find a way out instead of committing suicide and if I knew that I couldn't escape then I-"

"Then you have me to rely on. I would break you out from there within a few hours." Sasuke said with a smirk, making Aiko chuckle.

"And if I did not have you and there was nobody that would break me out, I would commit suicide too to stop the enemy from getting information. I do not think that the samurai are dumb but I do think that they are highly disciplined. They are taught to follow orders and programmed to end their life if they are captured. They think that escaping from the enemy or backing from a fight that they aren't going to win means that they are cowards where as for shinobi like us, it is intelligence. This is what I gathered." Aiko finished off as the chef served plates of hot Yakitori.

"I think that I'll let you borrow the book once I finish it." Sasuke said, sadly letting go of Aiko's hand as he needed two hands to separate the chicken from the skewer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto groaned at the realization. He was greatly missing Ino. Even though she was gone for a day, he missed her. He had dinner with Sasuke and Aiko and had explained that the curse mark actually had a piece of Orochimaru's soul in it. He has expected the reaction though, Sasuke balled his fist and Aiko just gasped in horror. Orochimaru had wanted to be immortal, right? Well, this was his key to be. According to him, the body was just a vessel which he would change at his own convenience but the soul was immortal and it was proven by some old Uzumaki sealing books with forbidden rituals. He had given Sasuke a vague idea at the dango stand but when he revealed the whole truth, Sasuke was downright furious. He wanted the thing off of him. Thank god that the dinner was over and he didn't have to sit there in awkward silence. He would have discussed this with Ino but the latter was on a mission.

Even though he had been living with her for just a few days, he had grown accustomed to her. Sitting up alone in the empty bed, he realised just how much he missed her. He missed those morning kisses that would wake him up and how the two made out after brushing their teeth while making their breakfast. He loved her delicate touches and her soft, pink lips. He was addicted to her and he couldn't do anything about it. While he was away, he knew that there was a reason because of which he couldn't meet her. There was something to blame but now, he just felt lonely when he knew that instead of being on a mission, his flower girl could have been in his arms. As much as it saddened him, he couldn't ever stop her from going on a mission. He didn't have any right to do so and he didn't want her to be caged to him.

He got out of his bed and headed to the washroom to freshen up before going to the replica of their safe house that he had erected in Konoha. Just because he lived here didn't mean that he had to be here the whole time. Changing into a fresh pair of blue ninja pants and a sleeveless white t-shirt, he headed towards the house. Instead of sulking, he had to try and fix the seal or in Sasuke's case, fully remove it and Aiko was going to be there so that would help him greatly. To his dismay, Aiko was just going to be there till lunch as after that, she had her training session with Kakashi. He needed Aiko's help on this one, though he was a much better seal master, Aiko had a way of thinking in way different manner. If he was known for thinking outside the box, Aiko's way of thinking could be compared to being so far away from the box that it was just a tiny dot while looking from inside of it with another set of eyes. He couldn't disagree that she had an unmatched potential and was probably the smartest person he had ever met.

Upon reaching the house, he directly went into his study along with Aiko, who told him that after the revelation, Sasuke was not in a good mood. He would usually sulk in his room or occasionally try to destroy the training ground beside their house using a huge jutsu. He was currently in fear, something that he had not felt in a long time. Having a part of the snake Sannin inside of him disgusted him and the realization that his actions could be in some way manipulated and decided by Orochimaru made him furious. The boy had talked very rudely to Aiko and even disrespected her while she had gone to check up on him.

The two started working on the seal but weren't able to make much progress. By the time the two were done, all they had figured out was that the curse mark absorbs nature energy and passes it through the body of the user. It was similar to Jiraiya's sage mode but along with the energy, the mark also multiplied the intensity of the negative emotions in the user's body. After having a cheerful lunch, the two decided to check up on Sasuke before they left. He was still not talking a lot but instead of destroying the training grounds around the house, he had decided to focus on his Medical Ninjutsu. When the two found him, he had his Sharingan activated and was jotting down notes from two textbooks. Naruto just thought that the Uchiha was overreacting while Aiko was mostly angry but also a bit concerned about him. The words he had said had hurt her deeply. Deciding to leave the Uchiha in his solitude, the two bid each other goodbye and went their separate ways.

On his way back home, he ran into Yamato who asked for Naruto's help. Unlike Kakashi, Yamato couldn't just ignore his team and the mission that Tsunade had given him made it even harder. Out of the three people on the team, Tsunade wanted to make at least two of them good shinobi. Naruto knew that part of the whole ordeal was his fault as Yamato got this assignment due to the arrival of Team Uzu, so he accepted and followed the special jonin to training ground 38. The other reason that convinced him was that he had nothing else to do. When they had almost reached the training ground, Naruto disappeared in a shunshin. He had gone to pick up another genin that he had promised to train. Just before Yamato entered the training ground, Naruto appeared in a flash next to him. Yamato was certainly impressed that the blond had managed to put a Hirashin mark on him, other than that; he was also surprised to see Konohamaru with the blonde. The young Sarutobi was buzzing with excitement, he had wished for this ever since Naruto had returned to Konoha.

With a cough, he caught the attention of the two genin and a single Chunin. "Your current sensei, Yamato has asked for my assistance in training you and for that, I need to know your abilities. Today, Konohamaru will also be joining us as his sensei is busy reading some disgusting magazines." Naruto said bluntly, he knew that Ebisu was a pervert but he didn't know that it was this bad. He needed to have a word with Tsunade about this; in the meanwhile Naruto thought that this was his responsibility as he had promised to help Konohamaru in his training a few years back. "Konohamaru will start; all you have to do is tell me your chakra nature." To his surprise, no one questioned his authority and complied with a nod.

"I have two chakra natures, fire and wind, just like uncle Asuma. I would rank myself above average in Ninjutsu and taijutsu and average in genjutsu." Konohamaru said. He was a bit ashamed of his stats but he still had the determination to improve. After seeing how much Naruto had improved in the past three years and had become one of the most feared shinobi, he knew that pushing all the three abilities to an exceptional level was possible.

"My chakra nature is Fire Release." Hiroto said. He knew how strong the blonde was and he had the common sense to not pick a fight.

"I do not know my chakra nature." Sakura said, looking down in embarrassment. In the academy, she was much better than the blonde but now, Naruto had surpassed Kakashi. But she wanted to get better and if training under Naruto would work, she would do it. Maybe then, Sasuke-kun will love her. Even if she hated the blonde, she knew that it was the part to becoming the perfect women for Sasuke and she would do whatever it took to make Sasuke hers.

"Figured as much." Naruto muttered under his breath before taking out four pieces of paper. "Just to be sure, let's find out your affinities again. This is a chakra paper and you channel chakra into it to find your chakra nature." Naruto said, giving the paper to all of them Konohamaru went first and his paper split in half and a part of it turned to ash, confirming his fire and wind release. Hiroto went next and his paper turned to ash, confirming that he had the fire affinity. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and asked Sakura to go next. Her paper just got drenched showing that she had water release. On telling Sakura what her chakra nature was, he moved into Sai. The pale boy gave him a fake smile before channelling his chakra into the paper. Coincidently, a corner of the paper turned to dust while the rest got drenched in water. On seeing this, Naruto and Sai were both surprised. Jiraiya had told Naruto that the ex-root anbu had earth release and Sai had been told by Danzo that he had the earth release. He wasn't wrong though, Sai did have earth release but it was so much weaker than his Water release. On assuming that Danzo probably told the boy that he had earth release just because he didn't have enough Earth Style users seemed like the logical answer. Deciding not to ponder upon it, he decided to think on the matter later. After telling the pale boy about his chakra nature, Naruto returned to his spot.

"Alright, now I am going to conduct a training exercise, you four will face off against me. Don't worry; I will not be using the Hirashin or any Wood Release Jutsus. Remember, fight me like you're fighting your enemy, and show no mercy because if you do, then you're already dead." He said, putting his fox mask on. After three years of using it, he felt incomplete going into a battle without it. "I'll wait for five seconds before I come after you. Remember, if you land a single hit on me, you qualify. The rest who do not land a hit, well their fate will be decided by Yamato-san." Naruto said, looking at one of Tsunade's personal and trusted jonin who had enlarged his eyes to scare off the four. Needless to say, the trick seemed to work as the four gulped and disappeared.

After five minutes, Naruto closed his eyes and went into his sensory mode while Yamato was in a tree just to observe how his genin and Chunin perform. He noticed that Sai and Konohamaru had tried to hide his chakra and, it took him a few more seconds to find them, Hiroto and Sakura had just hidden. He might as well take out the weak ones, he thought. He threw two kunai, one at Sakura's position and one at Hiroto's position. The two dodged but that was just a trick Naruto used to get both of them out in the open. Placing one hand behind his back, to see if he could beat the two with just a single hand, he attacked the two head on in Taijutsu. He was throwing kicks and punches towards both of them, making the two defend. He won against the two in minutes and knocked out the two genin. Konohamaru saw the opportunity and fired off a fireball towards Naruto who just dodged easily and then he made a shadow clone, something that Naruto had taught him long ago, and told the clone to distract Naruto while he made another clone to make a dangerous jutsu that he was working on for a while. Almost half of his chakra resources were exhausted but he had to show Naruto that he was worthy of being Naruto's student. As soon as the clone was dispelled, he looked at the incomplete Rasengan in his hand and rushed towards Naruto. While Naruto was surprised, he merely ducked and caught Konohamaru's wrist before flipping him. The incomplete Rasengan made a crater in the ground while Konohamaru was drained. "Konohamaru, the Rasengan was incomplete and if the opponent was fast, your jutsu would have critically wounded you. Needless to say, you have certainly improved and I will start training you tomorrow in your free time." Naruto said with a proud smile under his mask as the young Sarutobi smiled before falling unconscious due to chakra exhaustion. Now only Sai was remaining.

Naruto decided to wait patiently for the pale boy to attack him and so he leaned on a nearby tree and started reading one of the romance books from Ino's massive collection. Observing that the blonde was distracted, Sai unsheathed his blade and attacked the blonde while Naruto just dodged the attacks while reading the book. Now he realised why Kakashi used to do this during his genin days. Not only was this cool but the satisfaction received after seeing the opponent's agitation was just unmatched. Swiftly, Naruto caught Sai's wrist and disarmed. The two engaged in Taijutsu and Naruto saw why the guy was a Chunin. Even though he wasn't using both of his arms, Naruto could see the swift movements and all he could say was that Danzo trained the boy well. It took him a few more minutes but he had knocked the boy out as well. Sai probably was the best out of the three team mates.

After discussing how Yamato should train them and after telling him their weakness, he picked up Konohamaru, who was now conscious but still couldn't move due to using too much chakra, on his back and decided to go to Ichiraku as it was already evening. Once Konohamaru had regained at least one thirds of his chakra and was back to normal, he would tell the young Sarutobi how to enlarge his chakra pools as even though he could almost use and A rank jutsu, his chakra reserves were still high genin at best and Naruto wanted the boy at mid Chunin before he taught Konohamaru any massive jutsus. Till then, he would catch up with Konohamaru. Three years was a long time and he wanted to know what had happened with his pupil during those years.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery metallic claw in the ebony night sky. It seemed as if the natural black of the sky was hugging billions of stars just the way a mother hugs her newborn. On this specific night, team 10 had just finished setting up a temporary camp to last them the night. Their team captain, Asuma, had planned that they will travel to the bounty station near the Fire Temple just in case the two had decided to deposit the bodies there. As much as he wanted Chiriku to be alive, there still was a possibility that the two just captured Chiriku to collect the huge bounty on his head. After checking if all of the traps and barrier seal tags were in place, he decided to go to bed.

The team had found four large branches and had tied their sleeping bags to the harness which was attached to the tree. Choji smiled at Asuma and Asuma returned the smile before climbing up the tree to his sleeping bag while Choji just stayed down as it was his turn to keep a watch. Shikamaru and Ino were already in their respective sleeping bags as they had finished their job early. Shikamaru had fallen asleep while Ino just gazed at the stars. Soon enough, she saw a shooting star and made a wish to see Naruto soon.

She missed her fellow blonde; it was as if a part of her was taken away. She missed cuddling with him when they were in bed and she was reminded of his strong but gentle arms that encircled her waist and his warm chest which was her new pillow but she mostly missed his presence. The way he would think of silly things or just kiss her on the lips, forehead or top of her head affectionately. But she was a mission and she couldn't let these thoughts distract her. Removing every thought in her mind about the boy who she so dearly loved, she decided to go to sleep. She needed her sleep so that she could be at her hundred percent if they were to fight their enemy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was about two in the morning and Aiko was still awake. She was in the living room, studying all the known details of Orochimaru's seal, from his oldest one to his latest one. Her fiery red hair was tied up in a messy bun and her brown eyes were glaring at the scroll in front of her. She had noticed a few things here and there but they were not that important. Even though she was pissed off at Sasuke, she wanted to figure the seal out. She wanted to end Sasuke's suffering and pain and for some reason, even sleeping didn't feel right because she knew that he was miserable. Flipping a page, she started drawing a spider-web flowchart so that she was sure that she had explored all the possible angles, she couldn't afford to make a mistake. She had even begged Kakashi for a break just so she could solve the seal.

The silence was interrupted by the opening of Sasuke's door. He went to the kitchen and made two cups of coffee and then walked back to the living room, placing one cup in front of Aiko before heading back to his room to bring back a specimen of the human heart and intestines. Sitting as far as he could from her, he started to dissect the heart first. A tiny olive green blade appeared on his index finger as he sliced through the pericardium. The two worked in awkward silence, not uttering a word to another.

"Sorry." Sasuke muttered, breaking the silence and making Aiko look up from her work.

"Don't apologise if you do not mean it." Aiko said; she knew that Sasuke was just apologising for the sake of apologising and the Uchiha didn't even try to sound sincere. "If you think that just muttering a word without meaning it will make everything then you're way off." She said, biting her lip to stop herself from lashing out or spilling any tears. Taking a deep breath, she started working. Sasuke knew that he had messed up badly and he had to make it right. He decided to stay quiet for now to avoid an argument and decided to talk to Naruto about this in the afternoon.

The next morning, Aiko headed out for training before Sasuke had his breakfast. She had begged Kakashi for a break but she had come to a dead end again so decided to work on her jutsu. Maybe that will help clear up her mind. After having his breakfast, Sasuke headed out too to Training ground six, where Naruto was training Konohamaru. Konohamaru had a fire affinity too so Sasuke helped him out with simple jutsus. Once Konohamaru was busy firing off a jutsu, Sasuke finally decided to ask Naruto.

"How to say sorry?" He whispered and Naruto raised his eyebrow trying to make him repeat it again. "I know you heard me dobe."

"Oh I heard you teme but it's just weird that you're asking a question like this." Naruto said before thinking. "Well, it differs from people to people. The most important thing is to be genuine. If you do not know what you are apologising for, then take some time and think about it. Once you know what mistake you had made, apologise for it sincerely." He said, to which he just received a nod from the Uchiha. Soon enough, the two started talking about normal topics and bickering about who was stronger.

-With team Asuma

"The two members will probably walk out from these doors any second. Once they do, we will attack. There is a slight possibility that they are Akatsuki members but remember; we still have the element of surprise." Shikamaru said. "We will engage in combat immediately and try to kill or knock out the two shinobi. As soon as they come out, I will capture them in my Shadow Possession Jutsu. Try to end them then and there." Shikamaru finished off and the three nodded in response. A minute later, a white haired man in Akatsuki robes and Shikamaru gave his signal.

Like a perfectly synchronised machine, it all happened in the blink of an eye. Shikamaru captured the man and before he could even react, Asuma had cut off his hands while Ino had cut off his head. The head fell down and rolled on the ground till it was straight again. Then it surprised everyone when the head groaned in annoyance.

"Oh for fucks sake. Being torn apart fucking hurts." He spat as another figure in the Akatsuki robes came out of the building with a briefcase in hand. The whole of team ten was frozen in fear and was surprised that the man hadn't died. "Oi Kakazu, don't just stand there being useless, help me out here."

"Shut up Hidan!" The man identified as Kakazu said. He didn't let his eyes part from the members of team ten as he stitched up Hidan's body with some thread like material that came out of his hand.

"Now I'll teach you a fucking lesson for tearing me apart. Maybe Jashin-sama will be impressed." Hidan said with a smirk. Kakazu understood that his partner wanted to deal with them privately so he backed away. However, he had an eye on the blonde Yamanaka. He had read a lot about her and she had a hand in killing Sasori. She could definitely become a big problem in the future.

Then the battle began and Team Ten started to overpower Hidan. Most of which was done by the complete offence by Asuma and Ino. Ino had managed to cut off one of his legs and that's when Kakazu stepped in. He stitched up Hidan's leg and went after the Yamanaka, while his partner faced off against Asuma, Shikamaru and Choji.

Due to Ino's versatility in the Earth Chakra Nature, she was able to block most of Kakazu's blows while constructing a wall here and there to stop Hidan's scythe from impaling her teammates. She took a few hits though and because of Kakazu's long range ability of being offensive, she was unable to land a hit on him. Kakazu noticed this and decided to lead her away from her teammates so that Hidan could finish them off more quickly. Once they were far enough, Kakazu took off his cloak and two bodies of that string like material formed on either of his sides. He wanted the Yamanaka dead or alive. Her price in the bingo book was more than his last solo target and taking down the best earth style user from Konoha would boost his ego and pride.

Little did he know that leading her away from her teammates would be a huge disadvantage for him. Now that Ino was far away from her teammates, she could go all out without worrying about hurting them and she started right away. "Earth Style: Toujinbo!" She said, flying through the hand signs for the massive jutsu and within minutes, hundreds of columns had emerged from the ground making the whole area look like a maze. This was one of her trump cards; she knew the whole maze by heart while it was new to Kakazu. Now, she could attack him from his blind spots and dodge easily. Kakazu finally realised why she was the best earth style user from Konoha. When the Akatsuki member tried to move, he realised that the ground beneath him was swallowing him slowly. 'Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld' he thought. She had flipped the tables within minutes. Now, she was the predator and Kakazu was the prey and Kakazu was enjoying it. He had finally found a worthy opponent and he had a few new tricks up his sleeves that he wanted to try out. And just like that, the epic battle between the two began.

"I have got you now." Shikamaru said, trapping Hidan in his Shadow Possession jutsu. He then dragged Hidan out of his ritualistic circles and as he left the circle, the skeletal marks on his body disappeared. And as soon as he knew that Asuma was safe, he gave the signal to Choji to crush the Jashinist.

"You fucking twats, I swear I will grant you all a very painful death for this." Hidan said, before getting crushed by Choji. But the attack did not affect Hidan at all. It only took him a few minutes to return to his normal self and once he did, the burnt Asuma attacked him while Shikamaru took some time to recover and Choji popped a yellow pill in his mouth.

"Get ready to rumble!" The Akimichi said before turning into a ball. The chances of Team ten surviving were high and they mentally thanked Ino for handling the second Akatsuki member. Asuma and Choji were very aggressive against Hidan but the Akatsuki member did not mind taking a couple of more hits. After all, they did not really damage him. His plan was simple, he had to get to that circle and then he could kill them off one by one. He started attacking the two with his scythe and spike, trying to get the Kiamichi's blood too.

Shikamaru was focused on making an escape plan, Even though they had a slim chance of winning, he did not want to risk it. Right now, escaping seemed as the best option. He had very little chakra. Choji could burn out any minute due to the side effects of that pill and Asuma was also not currently at his best. Ino was handling the other Kakazu and no matter how strong she was, there was a fifty fifty chance of her survival. And the Nara knew that they had a choice between escaping and surviving and staying and dying. Immediately, he started working on a plan.

"You will have to do way better than that to catch me." The Yamanaka said, after evading a bunch of his attacks. Her left hand was bleeding and she was covered in dust, dirt and sweat. Meanwhile, Kakazu was panting and one of his five lives had been destroyed by the Yamanaka. She was a bit exhausted but she could carry on for a few hours. Flashing through some hand signs, she heard a scream. 'That was definitely Shikamaru.' She thought. She had to get out of here to help her teammates.

"Oi Kakazu, we need to leave now. The shitty leaf backup is here. We'll take his fucking body later but now we have to go." Hidan said appearing out of nowhere, clutching his abdomen. He was not in his best state. His stomach had a hole in it, one of his arms had blown up and he was limping. And Kakazu nodded. The two disappeared in a shunshin while the Yamanaka rushed to her teammates. It had already started raining and she sensed that everyone was on the roof of the building. She silently hoped that no one had actually died.

What she saw on the rooftop shook her to the core. The backup squad was standing in a line with their head bowed and at the end of the line; Asuma lay with Shikamaru and Choji on his side. Biting her thumb, she immediately summoned Katsuyu. Her vision was getting blurry and she could feel the warm liquid flowing from her eyes. She didn't have time for this, she had to try and save Asuma at any cost or at least keep him alive till Tsunade or Sasuke could.

"Ino, there is no use in trying to save me, most of my vital organs have been destroyed and I should have died a while ago." Asuma said as Ino started to heal him. She did not pay attention to what he was sating and soon Katsuyu was also supplying chakra and healing Asuma. "Alas, this is my end. Listen carefully as these are my final words to you." He said which made Ino stop and look at him.

"Choji, you're a kind man who cares for his comrades. Be more confident in yourself. And maybe diet a little." He said and Choji finally let his tears flow. "Shikamaru, You are so smart and have great sense as a shinobi. You could definitely become Hokage. But you are too lazy. You'd probably hate it. Pick up a chakra nature or two because just relying on your clans shadow techniques is not always going to help you, especially on solo missions." Due to the rain pouring down Shikamaru's face, no emotion was visible. But deep down, he had been shattered.

"And finally, Ino. You are strong willed, dependable, responsible and perseverant. In such a short period of time, you have become one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha right now. You have already surpassed me and I am really proud of you. You have shown that you can get back up no matter how hard you fall. Shikamaru and Choji are total goof-offs, keep them in line. I need a favour from you, the last one I'll ever ask. Take care of my king, alright?"

At this point, Ino was weeping but she still nodded promising that she would take care of his child. She was not about to give up on her sensei. She kept on trying her best to heal Asuma, she had no other option.

"Ino, Asuma only has a few seconds left. He was right, a lot of damage has already been done and a lot of blood has been lost. It is impossible to keep him alive, even lady Tsunade cannot save him even if we somehow delay his death and make it back to Konoha." Katsuyu said to the Yamanaka.

"Before I die, let me smoke a cigarette." And on his command, Shikamaru lit a cigarette and placed it in between his lips. Halfway through the cigarette, Asuma stopped inhaling and the cigarette fell out. And just like that, one of the most important branches of The Leaf had fallen.


A/N:

A very long chapter but you guys deserved it for waiting for such a long time. This one was not proofread as my proof-reader has a lot of work and could not find the time to proofread it. I waited for a few weeks to get this proofread but she is not going to be free till the end of May so I decided to post it anyway. I have been keeping y'all waiting for a long time and I apologise for that. Anyways, it would mean the world to me if you left a comment on this chapter about how it was written since I am a bit anxious about if y'all are going to like it or not. This is my first chapter that has not been proofread in a while so I will appreciate the review very much.

Unfortunately, due to football, studies and another few things, I will not be able to post as frequently as I usually do so sorry about that.

That is all for now!

See y'all ASAP!

Peace!