Chapter 3

The morning after the crimson night, Inoichi and the Investigative team were in the now desolate Uchiha Compound. Sasuke has temporarily put under protective custody with the Anbu. Inoichi entered the Uchiha Heir's house and noticed the blood running from Fugaku and Mikoto's eyes. "What happened here?" He asked the med team assisting in the investigation. "The tenketsu in their eyes has been punctured..." the M.E. noted. 'Tenketsu, could it be a Hyuuga?' Inoichi asked himself before the M.E. Continued "... there has also been chakra damage to the outside of their skin with some lacerations and burns that cover their whole body. Initial observation looks like they were facing a chakra-filled explosive with the Tenketsu damage as a side effect. I won't know more until I do an autopsy." 'They left the eyes intact of these two, and stabbed the eyes of all the others in the compound. Just what were they after?' He wondered.

Inoichi looked around the rest of the room. 'Most of the damage to the structure happened in the center of it, suggesting this is where such an explosion will go off.' He noted standing over where Naruto unsealed the chakra. He looked up the stairs and saw the kunai stuck in the wall. 'They came in from upstairs. For what little Sasuke said, he noted he was sleeping in the northern most bedroom'. The blonde investigator saw the door ajar and across he saw the window open. 'They passed right over Sasuke and targeted the parents. Why?' Inoichi's questions only doubled as the rest of the clan was massacred, but only Sasuke survived. A messenger bird found its way to Inoichi summoning him to the Hokage's office.

When he got there, The Saindaime was anticipating the blonde's arrival. He as well as the other Jounin present were expecting an answer for the current fall of the Uchiha clan. "Yamanaka Inoichi, welcome..." he started "we have the name of the perpetrator of last night's massacre. 'How can that be?' Inoichi thought '...we just started the investigation.' The Hokage let out a dreadful sigh "Our very own Itachi Uchiha has went rogue and has joined a criminal organization known as Akatsuki" He concluded. "We are to be wary of any movements involving the syndicate. We are still unaware of what their goal is."

Inoichi considered that Itachi went rogue as some of the murders matched the Anbu Captain's style, but there were two other styles not fitting the same M.O.. Moreover, one thing that was the same was that the Sharingan was sabotaged. Outside of Fugaku and Mikoto, where blood loss was seen from the eyes, there wasn't blood the other bodies he seen. This suggests that someone did this post-mortem after battle, or another party went out of their way to hide the clan secrets.

"Achoo!" Naruto sneezed while he walked through the village. As he was still trying to cope with what he did the night before. Good intentions or not, he killed his friend/rival's parents. One day he will have to tell Sasuke. "Just take it day by day" he sighed. At least he won't have to worry about Danzo becoming too powerful for the time being. 'Didn't he have Izanagi?' He wondered while ignoring the scorn of the villagers. 'Why didn't Fugaku use it? Can he not use it because of the seal?'

Naruto understood one thing, that he needed to really hammer away at his fuuinjutsu studies. 'Baa-chan also told me about all the other information the Hokage needs to be aware of: politics, councils, administrations and institutions that influence the people...' His head cracked '... and just because it's Baa-chan, she insisted I have some medical knowledge. Still, I don't think the library would take kindly to the Jinchurikki walking out with a book of how to make and disassemble seals.' Naruto rubbed his spiked hair in frustration before letting out a sigh. 'Looks like I'm going to have to visit the Uzumaki Clan compound when I have a chance. I'm not going to leave my future to advice of the Legendary Sucker.'

"Haachu!" a busty blonde gambler let out a sneeze prior to losing all her money on the eastern edges of Hi no Kuni.

As the month passed, Naruto continued his training with Ino in the morning and ninjutsu training alone until the afternoon. It was now time to start the academy, and both were already pumped to move on up in the world. While Ino was studious, Naruto groaned as he hated academia. 'I learned everything through experience. Ma, I can't doubt that I could be a lot better if I just paid attention.' The naturally kinetic ball of energy tried to sit still, but it was like compressing a tailed-beast ball. After the lecture, steam flew out his ears as he recalled everything the teacher said. 'This is really the basic among basics. Geography, Shinobi Terminology, Ranks, etc.' Feeling like he held his breathe for nothing, after classes he decided to get in the habit of studying in the library.

It was nice seeing some of the young versions of his friends. Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Choji were all in his class this year. Naruto was glad he didn't have to see Sasuke-teme since the mental scarring is still fresh, however, I guess Naruto would be the 'teme' in this world. Nothing screams 'asshole' like 'I killed your parents.' As for Sakura, Naruto felt icky about using his previous knowledge to get Sakura to like him 'I'll probably just give up on her all together' He thpught plopping his head into the 'Shinobi Alliances for Knucklehead Ninjas (Vol. 1)' written by Jaraiya 'of the Pervy Sages'.

"Achoo!" A certain toad sage gave away his position at a hot-spring in western Hi no Kuni.

On her way out of the academy, Ino noticed a group of girls teasing a pink-haired girl about her large forehead that she was trying to cover with her bangs. 'Not on my watch' Ino thought. Stepping into the conversation "you two don't look the brightest either" Ino commented on the other girls' looks. "I mean, she may have a forehead fit for two people..." "Oi..!" Sakura said in the background, "but that's because she's smarter than both of you combined. Because no one in their right mind would walk out the house looking like you two." The two girls angrily left before Ino faced Sakura. Ino took the red ribbon that held up her blonde hair and pulled Sakura's hair back into a ponytail, lecturing her about being more proud of who she is "You may have a forehead with enough solar reflectance to solve climate change, but it's who you are and you should love yourself more". The Narutoesque manner of backhanded compliments didn't go unnoticed in this timeline as Sakura thought 'I kind of want to punch this blonde in the head'. "I'm Ino Yamanaka" she finally introduced herself. "I-I'm Sakura Haruno" she replied with a slight bow. "Nice to meetcha!" Ino said enthusiastically "see you tomorrow forehead!" She yelled walking away making a tick mark form on Sakura's head.

Meanwhile, Inoichi has just gotten word from the Coroner. Most of the Uchiha were killed in an Anbu like style, or through Uchiha Clan techniques. The only ones that stuck out were the clan head and his wife. They were able to trace what chakra was used from the residue left on their skin. Senjutsu Chakra, or nature's own. 'We're dealing with a Sage level shinobi here...' Inoichi worried 'And Itachi, as much as prodigy as he is, is no Sage'.

After a few weeks, Naruto postponed Ino's training to put all his efforts in his own training and studying. In the morning, he can't be found and in the afternoons his head is either jammed in a book from the library or a bowl from Ichiraku's. Ino was getting impatient as she felt he was leaving her behind.

When the weekend came about, Ino was wandering through the village looking around for Naruto. At first, she thought she'd find him at Ichiraku's, but the usual seat was empty. "Excuse me... umm.." Ino tried to remember the brown-haired woman behind the counter. "A-ya-me" the woman said in a playful manner back. "Ayame-san... have you seen Naruto?" she asked. Ayame thought for a second. "Usually he comes in the afternoon, and it looks like he rolled around in dirt" she noted. "Okay, thank you!" Ino exclaimed while taking off. Ayame has a cunning grin on her face that she would have to mess with Naruto later.

She passed by the eastern side of the village trying to find a dirt filled place. Instead she found the purple haired Hyuuga looking out from behind a pole again. 'I believe her name was Hinata' she thought approaching her. "Hey Hinata...!" She yelled, startling the Hyuuga Heir. "Y-y-Yamanaka-san..." she stuttered. "Have you seen Naruto anywhere?" Ino asked overlooking Hinata's uneasiness. "N-Naruto-kun...?" Ino, however, happened to notice the honorific. "-kun, huh? So you like Naruto, Hinata?" Hinata grew bright red from being found out, although it was no real secret. 'I guess I'll tease her for a bit' Ino snickered internally. "Oh really? It looks like I got some competition..." "W-what?!" Hinata asked startled. "I might have to step up my game, I'm not going to lose to—" Ino mocked before getting cut off "I-I won't lose either!" Hinata shouted back her face still looking like a cherry. 'She's got spunk. Hidden, but she's got it.' Ino looked around for a moment "Alright, I'll hold you to that" she grinned "So do you know where he might be?"

Hinata calmed herself down, surprised that she didn't faint from embarrassment. She nodded and pointed out to the fenced off forest area "I saw him go in there". Now that Ino knew how Hinata felt, it was no surprise that she knew where he went. "So, you want to go find him?" The blonde asked. Hinata poked her fingers together "I don't know if we should" she said timidly. "Well you already came this far, c'mon!" Ino insisted grabbing Hinata by the hand and pulling her into the shadow of the trees.

They looked in awe at how tall the fence stood. "What is this place?" Ino asked out loud. "Yamanaka-san..." Hinata drew the attention of the blonde as the Hyuuga pointed at the Placard hanging on the fence. "Training Ground 44" they silently whispered to themselves as they saw someone wrote in marker below it 'The Forest of Death'. Ino seemed to have lost her nerve as she put her head down and shade drew on her face. Hinata began to worry until Ino blurted out "You're telling me that guy is training without me?!" Stomping the ground next to her.

"Hinata!" she yelled to the purple-haired kunouchi-in-training who let out an "eek!" The Yamanaka Heir looked at the Hyuuga Heir grabbing her shoulders "How far can you see with your Byakugan?" Hinata shook her head slightly "I can only manage about 100 yards or so" "Those are rookie numbers, you gotta pump those numbers up![1]" the blonde retorted to the Hyuuga's response of "but I am a rookie." Ino paused before she grinned "It'll do" she said confidently before scaling the fence.

Hinata semi-reluctantly followed, since she has been intrigued by the enigma that is Naruto ever since he helped her home last winter when her Geta broke. When she hit the ground she activated her Byakugan and a bead of sweat dropped on her head. "Did you find him?" Ino asked. "N-no, I see a lot of other signatures though. They walked through the forest trying to avoid any other chakra signatures. They were an odd duo: Hinata was timid and doubtful while Ino was confident and outgoing.

Suddenly, Hinata stopped. "Ino... I think we should head back." Ino looked back at Hinata. Seeing how scared she was, she didn't want to put her through more torture. She shrugged "well at least we tried." As they turned to head back, they were face-to-face with a giant spider. Both screamed in horror, grabbing onto each other before quickly fleeing, dodging the sticky-white webs it was shooting in their direction.

One of the webs grabbed Ino's leg as she fell to the ground. Tears began running down her face as she figured this was the end already. Hinata had been gradually progressing in her family Taijutsu style, and even though it's not up to par with her peers it was now or never. She hit several tenketsu points of the spider's hind legs before it started to limp. Her victory was short lived, however, as the spider sprung a web that left her trapped against a tree

As both exhausted girls awaited their impending doom, Naruto jumped down from the trees while slamming a blue orb of chakra into the arachnid. "Rasengan!" The highly compressed, rotating chakra forced the eight-legged monster down with shear pressure and ate its way inside its abdomen, killing it. Ino and Hinata were amazed and glad that they were still alive. As he was helping them get the webs off, he noticed a snake making its way across a branch 20 feet away from them. He quickly made two shadow clones "get them out of here... we got company."

The clones nodded and quickly got the girls on their backs before taking off. The snake sleuthed its way to the front of Naruto, who then reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a scroll. He sat in front of the snake and laid the scroll out before unsealing a full plate of Dango. It's eyes opened wide in surprise and delight. "You know, it's kind of hard to talk to you when you're in that form" Naruto noted before the slithery creature burst into a cloud of smoke.

The smoke dissipated to show a twenty-year-old purple-haired Kunoichi. She wore a fishnet top and black Jounin pants. 'It looks like she hasn't gotten the trench coat and skirt yet' he noted. "You're pretty sharp, kid" she complimented sitting across from him. "Why Dango though?" She asked resisting the urge to lick her lips and trying to maintain the composure of someone who's in the Torture an Interrogation Department. "I see you all the time at the Dango stands around the village, so I figured it would be nice to greet the woman that Yamanaka-san sent to spy on me" Naruto responded nonchalantly. She narrowed her eyes at him in a glare before deadpanning "No kid, that's not the proper way to greet a lady at all." The blonde gave a sheepish laugh rubbing the back of his head "well, I would have done a tea ceremony or something, but I don't have a tea set."

The purple-haired kunouchi rubbed her chin, "well at least you're not a complete lost cause. I'm Anko Mitarashi, the sexiest shinobi in this village... and single." She then looked down at Naruto "Not that it'll matter to pip-squeak like you though". Naruto's eyebrow twitched as he was underestimated, but retorted a shrug with "who knows, you may have let a real Genji [2] slip through your hands". Anko made a mischievous grin and leaned forward to Naruto "you may be right. That jutsu you let earlier was not something anyone can do. You can be a real catch in the future" she said trying to tease him. As her face got closer, he separated them by picking up a stick of dango and then shoving it in her mouth "let me know how it tastes first. There are steps to these sorts of things..." A quizzical look plastered on her face wondering if he met what she thought he meant "...You can't just go asking about a shinobi's jutsu." She returned to her sitting position brushing off the indirect rejection she just got "you're lame."

Outside the Training Ground 44, Ino and Hinata were dropped off by the clones. "Can you please keep what you saw here a secret? The boss doesn't want too much attention drawn to him" one of the clones asked sheepishly when both the girls had calmed down their nerves. "A secret between me and Naruto-kun..." the timid Hyuuga thought, feeling at least a bit closer to him. On the other hand, a tick mark had formed on Ino's head. "A secret... the nerve..." she mumbled. Both the clones had a sense of dread, when clone two standing behind clone one patted the other on the shoulder and said with a smile "Godspeed" before poofing out of existence. Clone one, shocked that he was betrayed by his counterpart, then turned stiffly to the angered blonde before she exploded "you tell your boss...!" She exclaimed forcing her finger into his chest "...that he's going to teach me that jutsu for me to keep quiet, or swear to kami if he doesn't I will find a way to learn it myself and shove it so far up his ass that his head starts spinning!" The last word had been accompanied by a poke with so much force you could swear it was a Hyuuga doing it as the clone then burst into smoke.

Back in the forest, Anko was going on about daily life "... and then I told that Ibiki that he's so ugly that every blemish on his face just makes him look better!" "Yeah when you're that ugly, there's nowhere to go but up" both let out a laugh before a ping hit Naruto's head as the information from his clones came back to him and his face turned as if he wasn't anticipating the events in the near future. "Listen, Anko-nee..." Naruto began rubbing the back of his head "...I know you have to report back, but can you make me seem not so powerful that I have to have Anbu watch my every move?" Anko took to the familial connection for a moment before replying "nope..." "Whaaaa? But I don't want that kind of attention, please!" He pleaded clapping his handing in front of his chest. "Hmmm, you're still weak to me, so I can't call you powerful at all. You're probably a chuunin at best" she replied before a cunning grin grew on her face. How about you train with your pretty Anko-nee-chan for now on." "The prettiest ..." Naruto said with a nervous smile. "Now you're just being a kiss ass..." 'kinda' he thought. She saw the uncomfortable nervousness that he was in given that he just saved to girls and has potential to be a fine shinobi. "Fine, you brat." Naruto's face then gleamed in excited exhaustion "thank you thank you thank you!—" "Training starts tomorrow morning" She retorted to his excitement dying soon afterword.

Footnotes:

[1] Wolf of Wall Street (2016) reference

[2] Referring to the Japanese classic novel "The Tale of Genji" (11th century, C.E.) in which Genji is raised by his step-mother from the age of three whom they later have a forbidden relationship