As Naruto settled into a room and proceeded to treat the numerous samurai that descended on the team with the intent to kill, Ino stayed in the room with him and watched him work. For the most part, the swordsmen were silent. That changed when he started treated one of the warriors that suffered at the hands of his Heavenly Spear Kick. This, of course, resulted in several fractured ribs since the armor (which had been rendered beyond repair) had taken the brunt of the attack. The blonde Senju had to commended the samurai and the craftsmanship of their armor; had the man not been wearing it, he would have suffered a similar fate to Zabuza.
"You're lucky you caught me off guard, brat." the other man spat. "Otherwise, I would have decapitated you."
Naruto looked at the man and released an obscene amount of killing intent. "Then perhaps I should just slit your throat and be done with it."
The man said nothing else, sweating profusely as his eyes began bulging, his pupils dilating in sheer terror.
"It's very unwise to threaten the one healing you. For all it takes is a little inconsistent chakra control…" as he was explaining, he added some wind chakra to his hands, resulting in a bloody gash on the man's torso. He cried out in pain, but it was quieted to a whimper as the sliced flesh began to mend itself. "And the healing becomes a mauling."
For the rest of the procedure, the samurai said nothing but continued to look on at the blonde boy in fear. The blonde genin were silent as well, Ino staring protectively at her boyfriend. He taught her how to fight, how to utilize more than just her clan Secret Techniques. He helped her bring her endurance up to the point where she could more than likely keep up with a chunin. So she knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself. Add the fact that he was literally a walking poison factory, and that just tripled his lethality. Yet, she was waiting on something, anything to happen to him. If it did, she would spring into action and end it without remorse.
The next few hours saw nothing more than the rest of the warriors, now with minor injuries or concussions, being treated. Ino was glad no one else spoke against her blonde the way that bald man did, otherwise, she would have to interrupt the other genin's delicate healing procedures. When Naruto was finished, he still wanted to go and train a bit. Ino was gobsmacked. She knew her man was a machine when it came to endurance and chakra, but this was ridiculous. To go from all out combat, to nonstop healing, to training was insane. Even for her walking poison factory.
"Oh no you don't, Whiskers." Ino stood in front of him with her arms crossed. "You're going to take your blonde ass into the room Mifune-dono gave us and you're going to take a nap."
Naruto raised a questioning brow, unused to anyone that wasn't his mother or sister talking to him in such a manner. "Oh? And if I don't?"
Her Earth Spear activated instinctively. The message was clear;'Then I'll make you.' The Yamanaka heiress had gotten scary with that jutsu, and Naruto couldn't have been prouder. He smiled and took her darkened hand. The jutsu receded immediately and her face was dusted with a soft blush. The look of stubborn happiness was short lived, however, as a girl with red hair gasped as she saw the other blonde. Ino saw the girl start sprinting, the sword at her waist wobbling in place. She was suddenly all over Naruto, nuzzling him and cooing at him, despite his apparent confusion.
Ino was instantly pissed. Who the fuck was this redhead slut that dared to put those dirty hands on her man? After what felt like ages, but was really just a minute and a half, the other girl realized that she and her hero weren't alone. She regarded Ino with the same confusion that Naruto gave her.
"I'm sorry," his brow furrowed as he held Ino's hand tighter as he stepped away from the strange swordswoman. "Do I know you?"
The redhead pouted. "That's mean, Naruto-sama. You saved my mother's life four years ago, and I would remember those exotic whiskers anywhere."
Recognition lit his azure eyes. "Akiko? Wow, you've really grown up."
Ino was at a loss and remained that way even when Naruto explained that he saved Mifune-dono's sister-in-law when she was on the brink of death; a feat that was only possible because his mother and sister were operating right beside him. He was in charge of the operation, sure, but he deferred to them often. He knew how he would feel if either of them were taken from him, so he would be damned if he let someone else lose their mother.
The rest of their short stay found Ino burning with rage, her very skin almost as hot as Naruto's when he utilized his kekkei genkai. The slut, er, Akiko as she was apparently named, kept brushing against and bumping into Naruto in coy, flirty ways. Naruto didn't seem to notice, too busy making sure that Ino was properly cared for in a foreign place. It warmed her heart to see her ignore her advances, but the way she kept regarding him as 'Naruto-sama' was grating against her patience. The redhead caressed his name like lover, tasting it provocatively with her slutty tongue. Ino caught the way she would purr at him and try to press herself against him, and it was taking every ounce of willpower that she possessed not to put the floozy in the ground. That was, of course, before they were about to leave and the homewrecker tried one last attempt to steal her blonde away.
The samurai prepared an apologetic feast, one that had Choji drooling and Asuma gaping. Mifune was trying to ensure the friendship of the Senju heir, as he and his family saved someone very close to him. Losing their friendship over a misunderstanding would be tantamount to killing his sister-in-law with his own blade. The redhead walked up to Naruto, gazing up at him with those smouldering grey eyes. Ino instantly knew that she was not going to like what the girl was going to say next. She didn't.
"Shall I run you a bath before the feast, Naruto-sama? Would you prefer the feast first?"She paused for effect and Ino, in that one moment, was prepared to launch Konohagakure into a full scale war. "Or would you like me?"
Grabbing her blonde, her sensei, and chubby teammate, Ino made her way out of the temple they rested in and started the journey back to Konoha in an irate silence. Needless to say, the trip back home was extremely awkward for the other two males on the team.
Ino was pissed just thinking about the mission that happened two months prior. She was preparing to deliver a bouquet of flowers to the sensei of Team Eight from her own sensei, and though she was still livid at the thought of that homewrecking slut, she was rather impressed with her own handiwork. She was also impressed that she didn't make a trip back to the Land of Iron specifically to bury the girl.
Though that situation, no matter how awful for Ino to recall, had nothing on the current one that was happening right in front of her eyes.
The moment they returned, Ino still hadn't recovered from her irritation. With the most innocent gaze she could muster, she turned to her blonde and smiled.
"Welcome home, Naruto-sama."
The look on his face was thunderous, though she knew he wouldn't do anything to harm her. "Ino-chan. If you call me that again, I'll choke you."
Ino would never admit to how moist that made her. She wasn't that kind of girl, but there was something about the low, rumbling warning in his voice that made it seem so...hot. Instead, she mewled as she pressed herself provocatively against his body.
"You promise?" she purred.
Choji choked on some of his chips and Asuma's cigarette fell out of his mouth, though the look in the bearded jōnin's eyes said that he was taking notes for his own romantic endeavours. He dismissed them and Naruto pulled the other blonde into a hug and teleported them away. When she felt them stop moving, Naruto released his hold on her. Afraid that she pushed him too far, she rushed back into his warm embrace.
"What's wrong, Ino-chan?"
She looked up into his eyes, searching for any sign that he was upset. "I don't like her."
He chuckled, before gently brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "She can be a bit much… okay, she can be a lot much, but I'm still proud of the way you handled it."
"I ended up dragging you and Choji and sensei through the snow."
He nodded. "But you still trusted me to ignore her."
If he had any idea as to how close Ino came to ending the redhead's life, he didn't make it known. Once again, he relinquished his hold on her and she allowed him to. When she looked around, she saw that they were on Training Ground Seven. As she continued to scan the immediate area, she saw one of the two faces she could have gone years without seeing.
"Naruto?" Sakura Haruno made herself known, no doubt having been spying on their personal moment. "Can I talk to you, please?"
Planting a kiss on Ino's forehead that immediately quelled the rage starting to bubble in her chest, he nodded. "Sure, what's up?"
"Alone. If you don't mind."
Ino snapped. "Whatever you want to ask him, you can ask in front of me, Forehead."
Naruto nudged her temple with his nose. "Be nice, Ino-chan. But anyways, what can I help with?"
"I...I, uh, wanted to see if that offer for training was still open." she muttered, though it was clear by the light in her eyes that her resolve was steeling. "I'm tired of being afraid, and I want to get stronger. Can you please train with me?"
Ino, having delivered the bouquet to the red-eyed jōnin while lost in memories, found herself traveling to Training Ground Seven. Despite the extensive training he was giving Sakura, Naruto always made time for her; taking her out on dates, just spending time with her, bringing her lunch to the Flower Shop, training with her, and continuing their poison lessons. The lesson they had the week prior was an in-depth overview on hemotoxins that somehow ended up with them in a heated make-out session that was almost caught by Shizune. Luckily, the two heard the jōnin-level medic and separated just in time. Shizune, however, thoroughly interrogated her precious little brother when the other blonde left later that day.
The blonde genin blushed at the memory as she made her way onto Training Ground Seven, her face heating dangerously, and as she saw how close the pinkette was sitting next to her man, Ino felt a righteous fury ignite in her stomach. She looked to the left to see him with three academy age students with his poison supplies, a textbook, and three sets of thick gloves. The kids looked as though they were devout followers in a faith, listening to the words of their living god. Confused, she looked above her blonde and the forehead-girl to see Naruto reading A Master's Guide to Poison, vol. 1. Ino had to wonder if her lovable poison factory read anything other than medical textbooks and poisoner's texts.
The blonde in the tree looked up to find Ino coming closer. When he smiled, it was so bright that Ino felt as though her heart would stop at any moment. The other versions of Naruto looked up at her, winked and smiled respectively, and went back to their various tasks. Jumping out of the tree, he landed in front of Ino and pressed a sweet kiss to her unsuspecting lips. This pulled a quiet moan from the blonde girl, though it was unfortunately loud enough to pull the attention of Sakura and the academy students. The Yamanaka heiress blushed in embarrassment as the three kids walked up to her. She could swear that the girl of the trio was glaring murderously at her.
"Hey boss," started the boy with the ridiculously long blue scarf in a teasing manner. "Is that your girlfriend?"
Naruto nodded with another bright smile. "Ino-chan, this is Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. My little minions."
Udon, the kid who looked in desperate need for a tissue for his nose, smiled at the genin. Konohamaru scrutinized the blonde girl with a careful eye, a watchful little brother making sure that his 'Boss' was good. Moegi, the girl with rather odd twin tails as a hair style, continued to glare silently at Ino, a look that the older girl returned two-fold.
"Moegi-chan, be nice." the blonde boy warned.
The orange haired girl to him with a look that Ino found almost eerily familiar...hauntingly familiar. When she looked over at Sakura, she could see that Sakura was giving his clone the same look as they discussed medical and combat applications of jutsu Medical Water Release: Jellyfish. Sure, she was actively participating in the discussion, but she was eyeing him in a manner that was becoming more familiar the more she looked at it.
The academy trio, known as the Konohamaru Corps, went back to the waiting blonde clone with the poison supplies. They jumped back into the lesson immediately and listened as though he were their actual teacher and not a fresh out of the academy genin himself. Though, to be fair to her koibito, there was nothing 'fresh out of the academy' about him with the exception of rank.
After sneaking another kiss, one that Sakura shot a hateful look towards, the couple sat and he whipped out an earth release scroll that was titled 'Swamp of the Underworld'. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she and Naruto immediately went into the theory of the technique, before they started practicing.
After some time passed, Sasuke and Kakashi made their way onto the field. When they saw three copies of Naruto in the middle of various lessons, they didn't know what to think. By this point, Sakura was practicing some basic kenjutsu kata with dark bladed tanto, Ino was having a taijutsu spar while looking as though she was wearing a dark full body suit, while the three academy kids (one of whom Kakashi recognized as the Sandaime's grandson) were crafting smoke bombs with a dash of jet black powder.
Sasuke, who'd just finished some personalized training with Kakashi, looked over at his two teammates with a mixture of stunned surprise and something close to pride. At least now, no one would hold him back from his ultimate ambition. As Ino's skin tone returned to her normal color, that was with her Naruto vanished, as did the one with Sakura. Both kunoichi sank to the ground, sweaty and panting. He moved closer to the blonde kunoichi.
Kakashi had noticed a drastic change in his cute little pink haired genin while Naruto was gone, and a change that was still more drastic when he returned. For the past two months, she started developing toned muscles. She became faster, stronger, more able to think in the middle of several stimuli appearing at once. It was beautiful to see, but as the sensei to Team Seven, he was a tad depressed that he couldn't claim to have anything to do with it.
"Hey Ino-chan," Sasuke started, ignoring the look of utter disgust in her pretty blue eyes. "What do you say we go out some time? Maybe some lunch or some shopping?"
The Yamanaka heiress moved closer, her hard eyes squinting as she thoroughly examined either of his cheeks, then his forehead. She looked up to his hair, then turned her gaze to his outfit.
"No whiskers, no Senju seal on your forehead, no spiky blonde hair, no haori with 'Five' on it." she noted as Sakura tried her damnedest to not laugh at the stunned look on the Uchiha's face. "You're not my koibito. So why are you asking me out, Uchiha?"
Even Kakashi was gobsmacked, though his mask hid his expression well. It was no secret that Sakura and Ino were the biggest members of Sasuke's fan club back in the academy. Yet now…
"You can't possibly be serious about that blonde reject." he scoffed.
Kakashi noticed Sakura draw her tanto and the little girl whip out a kunai, no doubt given to her by his blonde genin. It was a strange sight, seeing Sakura ready to cut her former crush in order to protect her teammate from being insulted in his absence.
"You know what, Uchiha." Ino started, her right hand becoming that same dark color it was while was sparring with Naruto. "If you can tell me the chemical compound of a neurotoxin and how it relates to a hemotoxin, then I'll go out with you."
The last of the Uchiha looked to Kakashi for help, but the jōnin wasn't of any use in anyway when it came to toxins. Sakura's eyes lit up like she knew the answer, but stayed in her place. The three academy students giggled, discussing the answer amongst themselves, while the remaining Naruto clone looked both proud and highly amused. He felt like a proud father as he looked to the Konohamaru Corps, and decided that he rather liked that feeling. It was funny since he didn't know the chemical composition of a neurotoxin either, at least, not until the Demon Brothers. Though he did know the composition of hemotoxin. Ino did, indeed, have a beautiful mind.
"Well?" she tapped her foot impatiently. "I'm waiting."
Stumped, he left the training field absently with his brow furrowed in concentration, muttering to himself about chemical compositions, hemotoxin, and neurotoxin. He'd heard of neurotoxins before. Hell, who hadn't? But it was the hemotoxin that was throwing him for a loop. Sasuke, a genius in his own right, had no clue what the kunoichi was talking about. He knew that 'hemo-' meant blood and toxin was a poison. Perhaps the Uchiha archives had something on it. In truth, he'd been counting on her obsessive crush on him. Her devotion belonged solely to the Senju now. Maybe he could try for Sakura instead of wasting valuable training time searching for an answer. She'd finally become worthy of an effort on his behalf when she took his advice and started training seriously.
Kakashi was staring in the direction that Sasuke went, glad that he already told him about his announcement. Soon enough, Naruto returned carrying two bottles of water, each going to one of the kunoichi. Sakura and Ino gulped the water down, but Ino picked up and checked her watch.
"I have to go, Naruto-kun." she panted. "Asuma-sensei said he had to talk to us. I'll drop by the compound later."
She pressed a light kiss to his lips and left, bidding Kakashi a good day. Both Moegi and Sakura looked as though they'd swallowed something bitter. The clone overseeing the Academy trio packed up the supplies and sealed it into a scroll before throwing it to the original and dispelling. The Konohamaru Corps ran up to Naruto and hugged him before leaving. Sakura, having sheathed her blade before she received her water from the blonde stood next to him with an obvious blush on her face, though his attention was on their sensei.
"Well then, my cute little genin, I hope you're not too tired for a couple of D-ranked missions."
Blonde and pinkette swapped a look of disgust before turning back to Kakashi. The blonde of the pair was the one to speak.
"Do you have anything more...exciting?"
The older man eye-smiled, pulling out two sheets of paper. "I was hoping you'd ask. It's time for the Chunin Exams, and I nominated Team Seven."