Whomever it may concern, I do not own Naruto. I repeat, I do not own Naruto.
It has been some time since I posted my last chapter, but I hope I will compensate by giving you a longer one.
Vikraal: Thanks for the impute, I do plan on changing some things and I hope they'll work out.
Vonta01: It was just a joke man, don't take it too seriously.
"This is squad leader, report your status, over."
"Shadow here, I don't see the target, over."
"It's not here either, Ponytail over."
"Foxy reporting, I've got it in my sight, permission to engage, over."
"Permission granted. Be careful Foxy, over."
He closed off his intercom and got into position. Up there, in the trees, he watched closely as the target started to slow down. He, on the other hand, was static, waiting patiently for the perfect moment to strike. The opportunity came as soon as its movement came to a halt. He bent his knees and with a strong push he propelled himself like a rocket toward the objective and quickly caught it. The target tried to struggle violently, but soon enough it was all over.
A group of four could be seen walking through the village and towards the Hokage tower. One could easily identify them as the newly formed Team 10. It was easy to recognize them because of a certain grinning blonde, that was, oddly enough, full of scratches and bite marks and holding up a cat. The said cat struggled the whole way there, trying to escape, but it's attempts were all in vain. "Oh, no, you're not going anywhere you demonic hell-cat!" Naruto said as he held the cat tightly.
In contrast to him, Ino was anything but pleased. "Seriously though, who was the one that chose these god-awful codenames?" Couldn't they come up with something better besides "Ponytail"? She sighed to herself. It was a hard thing to be the only one with a sense for aesthetics.
Shikamaru decided not to comment on Ino's complaints, instead he choose to take notice of the stares some of the village were giving them. Giving Naruto, to be more precise. He had seen this before, in their younger days, when they were playing, but he hadn't given it much thought before. But now, it was bugging the hell out of him. Sure, Naruto wasn't quite the most exemplary person, but glares of hate were just too much. It was like there was a whole mistery about Naruto he wasn't aware of. He was brought out of his contemplating state, as they just arrived at the destination.
The mission assignment room was, as usual, full to the brim. People going in and out, missions being given, reports being, well, reported. All in all, it was a busy day. They went to one of the desks, where the chunin in charge was filling out some papers. The shinobi looked up as a scroll and a well known trouble making cat were placed on the table.
"Team 10 reporting. The mission for finding and bringing in the missing Tora was a success." After Asuma said that, the chunin put Tora in a cage, and took the scroll away. The jonin was about to pick up another scroll from the pile marked as "D" when Naruto's existed voice chimed in.
"Oh, oh, pick a C-rank, boss! We've done so many D-ranks already it's boring." Come on, pulling weeds all day, painting fences, catching cats. That's not a shinobi's real job. He really wanted some action. "Plus, when I get bored, I get creative, and I mean really creative."
As amusing as a prank done by Naruto would be, he actually was thinking of getting around in doing a C-rank. He look at them, analyzing their features, determining if they were all ready. Seeing no hesitation, he smirked and picked up a scroll from the "C" pile. "Alright than, brats, we've got ourselves our first border patrol. Go home and pack for a two weeks mission. Be ready at 7 AM in front of the village gates, we will depart tomorrow. Dismissed!"
"So, what are you guys up to, now?" A still extremely excited blonde asked his fellow teammates as they were walking out.
"Well, eventually, we'll have to go home and prepare our supplies for tomorrow, but I don't think that will take much, so we have some time to spare. What do you have in mind?" It was Shikamaru who replied in his lasy tone.
"Since we're all a team, and we have to know about each other and stuff, I was thinking we can go and meet my sister and maybe grab something to eat." Naruto wasn't quite sure if they would want to, but they were still his friends and Ayame was bugging him for a while to meet his teammates.
"You have a sister?! Now we really need to go. I bet she has a lot of interesting stories about you." The prospect of entertainment done by embarrassing childhood stories brought out the enthusiasm out of Ino. She grabbed both of their hands and rushed them into a random direction.
'Maybe this wasn't a very bright idea.' a slightly pale faced Naruto thought with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"You shouldn't worry, you are full of those all the time." That's just great, even the oversized furball was mocking him now.
'Can this day get worse?'
"Me and my stupid mouth." Naruto said aloud, but the words were lost to the people around him, as they were to preoccupied with laughter. All went well at the beginning. When they arrived at the ramen shop they were greeting by an ever so cheerful Ayame, which introduced herself as Naruto's big sister. They ate a couple of bowls of ramen and everything seemed peaceful, right up until Ino opened the can of worms that was Naruto's childhood. From there it was a non ending string of embarrassing stories.
"...I can't believe he used to say "dattebayo" at every sentence!" Ino said rubbing a small tear from her eye.
"Oh yeah, it became so bad I had to threaten him that I would take away his ramen if he didn't stop." Ayame said chuckling. "Maybe next time you come, I'll bring some of his baby photos."
As much as Shikamaru would have wanted to torment his friend just a little more, the pleading look on Naruto's face made him just a tad bit more emphatic. "You owe me one." He whispered so only Naruto could hear him. "As amusing as this has been, I think we should head out. We still need to prepare for tomorrow's troublesome mission."
"You're so not fun, Shika!" Ino said pouting at her fellow mate. The conversation was just getting started, and Ayame was a really nice girl to be around. She sighed. "I guess you're right. Well, it's been nice meeting you Ayame. See you tomorrow Naruto."
"It was my pleasure. Please feel free to come here anytime you want. Have a safe trip!" And just like that, with a few waves, the two members of Team 10 left. Ayame turned her head toward the blonde and got a contemplating look on her face, but it was gone a moment later as a small smirk rose on her face. "You know, Naruto-kun, now that you've grown and you start bringing girls for me to meet, I think it's time we have the talk."
Naruto, ever the clueless, was not ready for what he was about to hear that particular night. Some would say, he may never have been.
Next day, 06:50 AM, northern village gates
Naruto Uzumaki, the hyperenergetic, knucklehead prankster, was many things, a hero born to save the village, a prison for the most dangerous entity in the world, one of the most promising shinobi of Konoha, but the ninja that was sitting beside Shikamaru and Ino that morning was none of those. He had dark circles under his eyes, a sloped stature and a harrowing expression on his face. And if that wasn't enough, he was quiet, too quiet, and, strangely, was avoiding eye contact with Ino.
Shikamaru was thoughtful enough to let the blonde have his space and let his mind sort through whatever was that was upsetting him, on the other hand, Ino was having none of that. "Come on, brick for brains, snap out of it! You're giving me the creeps." And that's when she smacked him in the head.
Ino's efforts were in vain, for that Naruto just stood there, like a zombie, continually muttering the exact same words. "I know too much, my innocence, my innocence..."
"For Kami's sake, what happened to him to put him in that state?" Ino asked her other teammate, giving up on her attempts to snap Naruto out of his trance. The Nara just shrugged, and continued to watch the clouds. "Why am I even bothering?" she asked herself, frustrated about her teammates behavior.
Five minutes later was when Asuma arrived to meet his students. 'Would you look at that. I leave them alone for a day, and come to see this.' He shook his head and grinned. "Morning, you runts. I hope you slept well, 'cuz for the next 14 days we got nothing but hard ground and leafs to cushion your back." He had to shamelessly admit that the looks of dread on their faces cheered his mood even more that it was already. "We will arrive in three days at the border with Yu no Kuni (Land of Hot Water). There we will meet with the stationed team and exchange places. For our remaining time there we will patrol all along the border. Now, are you all set?" The question was followed by three nods. "Good."
And just like that, Team 10's first C-rank mission begun.
Elsewhere, later that day
Today was as ordinary of a day as any other, for the 51 year old man, Toshio. Nothing unusual ever happened on his little farm. He warked hard all day, preparing for the next potato harvest. With this next batch, he would make a nice profit and afford some small expenses for his two daughters, the 9 year old Chihoko and Tsugumi, who was 14 at the time.
The sun began to set, slowly turning into dusk, as he walked along the fields and toward his home. He felt his stomach grumble and thought with eagerness about the delicious food that Tsugumi might have prepared. He was about to enter when he heard some noise in the bushes. Thinking it might be a bear he raised up his hoe, to try and scare it away, but just then something hard smacked him in the back with a loud crack. Toshio was sent to the ground, hurting and clutching his head when a boot connected with his chest and pinned him down, breathless. He looked up just to see six brutes standing above him.
"Huh, so old fart here's still breathin'. Guess I should'a hit harder." Said the man holding him down smirking.
"Look at him, he's poor as fuck, we ain't scorin' nothin' from him!" Yelled another.
"Well, it's yo' fault, dumbass! You're the idiot that suggested he might have somethin'. "
The man in question brought out a knife and held it threatening. "Watch yo' tongue, fool!"
Soon the situation escalated when all the men started to argue and blame each other. It was turning up to be quite a rumble if something didn't stop them. Toshio was a bit optimistic that he might make it out alive from this one, but his hopes died when a new voice was heard, one that shut everyone else's up. "How about I kill you all for wasting my time."
Toshio couldn't see the man, but he could feel that he was more dangerous that all six of them combined.
"W-w-well, you see, S-shuuya..." That man with the knife was trying to explain, but was cut short by a sword, burning through his skull.
"Anybody else wasting my time?" Nobody dared to do anything but shake their head. "Good. Now, tell me there's at least something with value in this shithole."
They all quickly scrambled, looking for something that would tamper the interest of the man named Shuuya. After about 5 minutes, one of them came back dragging two girls with him. Shuuya looked at the girls and nodded. "They would have to suffice. Take the girls, we will get a pretty price for them."
If Toshio was scared before, now he was mortified. He couldn't let these monsters have his daughters. Using all his strength that he had left, he stood up. "I won't let you!" He was probably going to get killed, he knew that, but he at least had to try.
The leader turned around to face him, and judging by his clothes, Toshio understood, in that moment, what the man truly was. A shinobi. He had typical ninja attire, maybe a bit worn out, and a forehead protector with the mark for Yu slashed across it. An amusing smirk was plastered on his face. "Oh, so you're still alive. Tsk, tsk, that just won't do."
Faster than Toshio could even think, a sword pierced his chest and everything went black.
Two days later, border with Yu no Kuni
Three fricking days, they had been straight up running for three whole days until they reached the border, and she could honestly say that she was tired. Ino wasn't a jonin like Asuma or a stamina freak like Naruto. She had been better since they formed the team and started training, but three days of constant running, only stopping at night, was overkill. Even Shikamaru, with all his laziness was doing much better than her. She was about to complain for a fourth time that day about the "harsh" conditions, when Asuma came to a stop.
"Okay then, we can stop here for a time. The other team probably has already sensed our presence, and will arrive shortly. In the meantime, we will make camp and stay here until tomorrow." knowing what they had to do, they all scattered and went to do their share of the duty. Naruto was responsible with hunting for food, Ino and Shikamaru with collecting dry wood, and Asuma with the fire.
After about an hour, the fire was burning brightly, they had a hefty supply of wood that would keep the fire lit all night, and a half dozen skinned rabbits were roasting by the flames. All in all it was a cheerful mood that radiated among them, but then, a sudden tension brought them out. Asuma raised up slowly and turned to face in a seemingly random direction. "You can come out, we don't bite. To hard, that is." The last part he said it with a wild grin.
From behind the trees, in the direction the jonin was facing, came out two rugged looking shinobi wearing the Konoha protector. "State your business!" One of the chunins said in a somewhat commanding tone.
Asuma tossed them a scroll and put his hands in his pockets. "You are relived of your mission. Me and my team will be taking things over for the next two weeks. You can go back home." One of them opened the scroll and checked to make sure everything was in order. After he finished, he nodded and turned to go, but the jonin's voice stopped them. "Gone so soon? Why don't you join us for dinner?" Asuma said waving to the two rabbits left.
The chunin turned around and narrowed his eyes hatefuly at a certain blonde. "Not hungry." His words acid and in a moment they were gone. Asuma shook his head in disapproval and sat back down to resume his meal.
The mood hadn't quite picked up yet after the meeting with the other team, and that affected no one worse than the always smiling energy ball named Naruto. He never acknowledged the fact that the people of Konoha hated him, he knew they felt the lose of their dearest every time he showed his face. But some day he would change that, he would become strong enough to make sure no one suffers anymore. But, enough was enough, right now he had to get rid of the sour taste left. "Say boss, what was your first C-rank like?"
Asuma looked hard at Naruto before he burst out laughing. "I somehow managed to almost die and had to be saved by Kurenai. Till this day, she never ceases to remind me of my little embarrassment. She is quite the fierce woman."
"You know sensei, talking like that about a woman might make some people think you have a thing for her." Ino added with a slight devilish smirk.
The jonin coughed into his fist and a tint of a blush appeared on his face. Luckily, it was too dark for anyone to see, well, except for Naruto. "So, moving on with the tale. There I was, on my team's first real mission, going into enemy territory, in the midst of war mind you, with nothing but my guts and trusted knives..." This went on for about two hours, and by the end of it they all felt just a bit better.
The night was apon them, for some bringing in the blessing of sleep, and for others just unrestful thoughts. In was Naruto the one to take first watch for the night, but seeing as though he was still fully awake buy the time his shift was over, he decided to let his teammates sleep a little more. He was standing on a high branch, keeping watch, when he felt a very familiar pull from deep inside his mind.
Naruto's mindscape
The sight that welcomed him wasn't the old dark, half flooded, sewer that he saw the first time he awakened here. No, now he was in a deep shadowy forest, with trees as tall as the eye can see, and animals lurking inside. He actually spent many months worth of meditation trying to change the landscape and improving the accommodations of his "roommate". Tremors were felt shaking the ground as the enormous nine-tailed fox emerged from behind the trees. Once the Kyuubi was in front of Naruto, it sat down on the ground, and, in its typical fashion, it rested its head on its paws.
"What's up, you oversized furball?" Naruto said with a bright smile, in his usual cheerful tone.
The said oversized furball exhaled a good amount of breath from its snout that blew the blonde's hair back. "Do not address me as such. I am an entity far beyond your petty comprehension."
"Well, excuse me, your mighty assholeness, but you never gave me your name!" Stupid fox, thinking he's all that, well Naruto Uzumaki isn't going to bow down to anyone, no matter how big they are.
But Naruto's little outburst went unnoticed by the fox, its mind still registering the fact that standing in front of itself was the first human to have ever cared about its name.
"So, why did you call me here? If you had something to say, I would have heard."
The Kyuubi stared deep inside of the human's small eyes, the silence growing unbearable, before he spoke again. "Why do you not hate me?" The puzzled look on Naruto's face made him sigh and continue. "I killed your parents, I attacked your village, I am the reason for the anger others bring to you. Earlier I could feel your sadness, and my presence was the sole reason for it. So, why do you not hate me?"
Naruto stared at the fox, the fox stared back at him, they were locked in a contest of perception until the blonde smiled. "Well duh, 'cuz I don't have to. If given the choice to hate you, or my father for putting you here, or the villagers for being stupid, I chose not to." But seeing the suspicious look on the Kyuubi's face he continued. "I don't blame anyone for the stuff that happened, because it was no one's fault. You were not yourself when the attack happened. I was mistreated because of confusion. It's all a big pile of misunderstanding. Plus, you're as big of a monster as I am, fluffy toy." He finished giving the fox one of his special megawatt smiles.
The Kyuubi gave him a foxy grin."You almost sounded somewhat wise when you spoke. Almost." It turned its head sideways and closed his eyes. "My name is Kurama."
The following days went relatively quick for the four man team. They were patrolling along the border watching for anything out of the ordinary. The job was made even easier thanks to Naruto who had dozens of clones, henged as birds and other animals, supervising the aria up ahead. The excitement quickly ran out and boredom instilled. They were about to stop for the night and make camp, when Naruto's eyes went wide and called to his team. "There's something up ahead we should check out."
A few minutes later and they arrived at what was once a small farm. The emphasis on "once", for now, everything that remained was a smoldering mess. It was all burned down, from the old house to the fields, nothing but ash. And near the burned house they found the decomposing body of a man.
"He's been dead for at least 5 days." Asuma stated after inspecting the cadaver. In his time as a shinobi he had seen a lot of death, but it never got easy watching innocent people being murdered. He clenched his teeth and instinctively reached for his trench knifes.
"Wh-who w-would do something like th-this?" Ino asked stuttering a bit, shocked by what she was seeing. It was her first time seeing a dead body.
"Bandits." It was Asuma's only reply, the anger still flowing in his body, so much so, he even stopped smoking. The jonin's gaze was steel as he looked as his students. "It's our duty to bring these fuckers to justice, and we will do it." It wasn't a question. "Search and find anything that can tell us more, we probably don't have much time."
And so, they all worked tirelessly, rummaging through the ashes, trying to uncover something that might point them in the right direction. Half an hour later made no difference, as they found nothing worth of notice. Shikamaru, for a chance, was actually trying really hard. He may be lazy, but even with all the troublesome in the way, he wasn't about to let murderers go free. But his thoughts were interrupted when a massive wave of killing intent washed over the entire aria. 'So dense and its not even pointed at me.' He looked for the source and his eyes widened for what he saw. Naruto, standing some ways away, with streaks of visible red chakra!? with his head down and holding a salvaged photo in one hand and a piece of burned clothing in the other.
Thankfully, Asuma stepped up immediately and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and the oppressive intent stopped. The jonin hid a sigh of relief before he spoke. "Where are they?"
The blonde raised his hand and with a clawed finger he pointed. "North."
Nightfall, bandit camp
'Getting involved with these worms was beneath me.' It was Shuuya's thought as he watched with displeasure the display in front of him. 'Ants fighting over scarps.' They had been traveling at a slow pace due to the prisoners they had with them, and because no one in the camp, besides him, was a shinobi. They were going in the direction of Ta no Kuni (the land of rice fields). They were then going to meet one of his contacts who will buy the girls. But the slow minded never could think in perspective, all they wanted was the pleasure of the moment, not thinking about consequences. He suppressed a sigh remembering all the times he had to stop those morons from taking on the prisoners.
He was sitting on a high branch overlooking the camp when he caught something from the corner of his eye. He quickly dodge the projectiles, jumping to another tree when a smoke bomb exploded in the middle of the camp. There was a lot of commotion going on, people shouting, kicking and screaming. 'A distraction.' Shuuya narrowed his eyes at the smokescreen in front of him, he knew those tactics. Just as he suspected, after the smoke disappeared, there were no traces of the girls where he left them.
Standing some ways away were four people. One man, judging by the looks and headband was a jonin of Konoha that was somewhat familiar to Shuuya, he just couldn't put his finger on it. Beside him where three other kids, probably genin. One in particular caught his attention, a blonde haired boy, with whisker marks on his face, who was holding on to his former captives. The boy didn't look particularly fierce, but those eyes, almost shining in the night, were oozing with thirst for blood. Only one word came to Shuuya's mind looking at him, "predator".
But the threat of those who just arrived were of no concern to the rest of the bandits. "Look at them, one man an' a bunch'a kids, tryin' to scare us!" one of the man mocked.
"Ha, I bet'cha they still have diapers!"
"That blonde girl might bring us more money."
For her part, Ino just shivered in disgust at the words. She just wanted to get this over with already, these men were giving her the creeps.
'So, five pieces of crap and an asshole hiding in the trees. Well, it's not that bad, judging by his level, the ninja can't be more than a chunin, maybe low jonin, and these others are just cannon fodder.' Asuma was about to let the runts handle the thugs so he could take care of the ninja, but Naruto spoke next.
"Hey, boss, mind letting me do this?" The blonde turned his head and showed a toothy grin. "I need to vent of some steam."
The jonin considered it for a second, but in the end he just shrugged and waved for him to go on. It would actually be a good way to ascertain his level. He sat on the ground and lit up a cigarette. "Ino, Shikamaru, make sure the girls are safe and be prepared in case we need to interfere."
The girls reluctantly let go of Naruto and sat behind Shikamaru and Ino, who welcomed them with a smile, assuring them that they will be safe.
Naruto took of his vest, which he left on the ground, and stepped up cracking his knuckles. "Which one of you pieces of shit wants to go first?"
The men stared at him and started laughing. "Oh, the gaki wanna play. We'll have to teach yo a lesson!" They brought up knives, clubs and chains, one of which even had a machete, and prepared for the onslaught.
What they didn't expect was for the boy to suddenly disappear in burst of speed and reappear in the midst of them crushing his fist into the skull of one man, sending him flying. They didn't react fast enough, as Naruto grabbed the chain from the fallen man and used it as a hook to drag another one towards him and implanted his hand in the man's chest, killing him on the spot. The three remaining quickly recovered from their shock and attacked him all at once, but Naruto jumped over them, grabbing two of them by the heads and breaking their necks. Now, with only one remaining he walked slowly toward his final victim.
The fear was overwhelming for the man, so much so, that he pissed himself. "N-n-no, s-s-stay b-b-back!" He turned around and run for his life.
Naruto picked up the fallen machete on the ground and threw it like a javelin at the running fool. The machete impaled the man in the back and through the chest, and he fell, lifeless. Naruto stretched his arms, relieving some tension in his muscles, and looked at a certain point in the forest. "You can come out already. I can sense your presence, and even if you tried to mask it, your smell is so bad I could sniff you from Konoha."
Just as the blonde said that, from the direction he was looking, a man dressed in warned out ninja attire and a slashed shinobi headband emerged from behind the trees. "You managed to detect me. Impressive for a mere child. Unfortunately, you will find that I am not the same as those weaklings." The man brought out his katana from his back and readied himself. Sparks began to illuminate the night, as bright flames engulfed the sword. He would make this quite, not leaving any chance for the others to interfere before he was finished.
The build up tension broke, as Naruto began laughing. "Oh man, you call those flames? You know, usually I'm not the one for flashy fights, but for you, I'll make an exception." He went through a couple of hand seals and spoke. "Katon: Faiyāfokkusu no Jutsu" A massive torrent of flame came out of his mouth that resembled the head of a fox. But he was not done, as he did another set of seals, breathing in air. "Fūton: Daitoppa" A powerful gust of wind impacted the fox head, increasing its size, and speeding up uncontrollable towards the man.
The hell fire consumed a great portion of the forest, and would probably continue on if someone didn't use a water jutsu to extinguish the flames. Naruto grinned awkwardly. "Maybe I went just a tad bit too far."
"If you ask me, I think you could have done much worse. Just saying." He would have replied to Kurama's comment, but he had to stay focused, the battle wasn't over just yet.
Some ways away appeared his adversary, and he wasn't doing to well. He had suffered some serious burns, his left leg a bloody mess and his left arm unusable. He felt pain all over his body, and was barely able to stand up. He was lucky enough to use a water barrier just before the fire jutsu collided, or else he would have been roasted alive. 'Damn, that brat got me.' Looking over his wounds he knew he was finished, he couldn't even do hand signs now that he had only one hand left. 'Even if I manage to defeat that boy, there are three others waiting for me, one of which is clearly a jonin.' Escape was the only option left for him.
The man threw a dozen of shurikens at the blonde, distracting his attention long enough for him to make a run for it. Just as he turned around, a fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying in the opposite direction, but waiting there was a foot that pummeled him to the ground, knocking the air out of his lungs. He was finished. Looking up he saw the boy standing over him, bloody from all the men he had killed that night. "H-how were y-you soo f-fast?" He asked in a strained voice.
"Duh, shadow clones. I made about a hundred before we rescued the girls in case anyone got away." That was the last thing he heard before Naruto chopped off the man's head using his sword. He threw the sword away like rubbish and brought out a tag from his pouch. He quickly sealed the dead man's head, and went back to where his teammates were staying.
Throughout all the commotion, Ino and Shikamaru were watching wide eyed the level of brutality and destruction their friend was capable of. They never would have guessed that the ever smiling Naruto could be so savage. Asuma, on the other hand, had watched the display with no small amount of enjoyment. He saw the blonde approach them and waved for him. He pat him on the back and smiled proudly. "That was a good fight, brat. But next time, try not to burn down a village. I don't think the Hokage would be too pleased." Naruto had the decency to look sheepish at the comment.
"Hey, Naruto, how come you got so strong? I've never even heard of that fire jutsu ypu used." Ino budged in, still a little bit awestruck by what she had seen.
"It's a little something I cooked up a while ago, Uzumaki trademark and all." The blond said grinning madly.
"So you want to tell me, that in your spare time you invented and original A-rank jutsu?" Shikamaru was the one to ask the question. 'Just how strong are you?'
"Well I never said I have only one." Naruto answered with a playful wink, but the statement made Shikamaru widen his eyes. To think that the blonde may have more powerful techniques in his arsenal made his skin shiver. "Troublesome" would be quite the appropriate word to describe what the Nara felt.
Someone tapping his shoulder brought Naruto back to the situation at hand. He turned around and saw the black haired girl, about his age, that he saved from the bandits. She had her head down, and was holding his vest. "Thank you, sir, for saving me and my sister!" She said bowing deeper and handing him the vest.
"There's no need for that, I was just doing my job. I'm the great Naruto Uzumaki, after all!" He exclaimed putting back his vest and making a hero pose. That's when Ino decided to literally slap some common sense back into his head. "Auch, that hurt Ino-baka!"
"Stop trying to act cool, you dumbass, you're scarring the little girl!" Ino said pointing at the girl hiding behind her older sister.
Naruto scoffed indignantly. 'How am I scarring them? I just saved them!' But nonetheless, he bowed down to one knee and smiled."Hello there, I am Naruto. What's your name?"
"Her name is Chihoko and I am Tsugumi." Came the reply of the older girl, her sister being to shy to answer.
Naruto gazed at Tsugumi and nodded. "Well, Chihoko, you don't have to worry anymore. As long as I'm here, you'll be safe, and that's a promise!" The blonde said giving the girls a megawatt smile. He then took something from his pouch, and handed it to Chihoko. It was a slightly burned photo, depicting the girls sitting beside their father. "It was the only thing that I could salvage." They took the photo and thanked Naruto, but the sadness was still too fresh and the sisters started crying until they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
The following week brought nothing more of interest to them. After the battle they took the girls and made camp a couple miles away from the site of the battle. Naruto was a bit reprimanded about his battle when Asuma had a hard time putting out the flames, that were consuming the forest, using a lot of water jutsus. After making camp, they decided that the best course of action would be to take the girls back to Konoha, something that the sisters greatly appreciated. Though Team 10 still had one more week of patrolling the border, Naruto took the responsibility to carry and protect the girls, or rather, he made his clones do it. Gotta love that jutsu.
Now, a week later, after they met with the next team on duty, they were leisurely walking on the road approaching the massive gates of the village. Atfer they checked in with the guards, they soon made way for the Hokage tower. Chihoko and Tsugumi had their jaws dropped at the astonishing sight before them. So many busy people and activity were a tad bit too much for two girls that have never left their father's farm.
"Ano, Naruto-niisan, is the Hokage a scarry man?" little Chihoko asked, playing nervously with her hands.
"The old man? He may appear tuff, but behind that wrinkled skin, he's a total softy." Naruto reassured the girl, ruffling her brown hair. "Well, we're here!"
After entering the tower, they were lead into Hiruzen's office by his secretary. There, the Hokage was a little surprised when he saw two girls accompanying the team, but after Asuma gave his brief report about what had happened, he's eyes softened and assured them that they would be well taken care of and that they had nothing to worry about. Sarutobi then dismissed them all but Asuma, who he asked to stay back so he could give a more detailed report of what happened.
They left the building and parted ways as Ino and Shikamaru were heading each to their respective house.
"So, what happens now?" Tsugumi asked a bit unsure of what was going to happen to them.
"Now we're going home!"
And finished! Well, this has been my longest chapter as of yet, and, I hope, my best one so far. Hoped you enjoyed, and until next time, bye bye!