Ino woke up in Naruto's cell with Shikamaru helping her up, and Naruto staring at her. She jumped up over to him. He was shocked when she hugged him. Shikamaru was too. He was ready to lock Naruto into place if the blonde tried to attack his friend.
"I'm glad you're not dead," Ino whispered. Naruto pulled away and looked at her. "Shikamaru, we need to take Naruto with us to see the Hokage." Shikamaru and Naruto looked at Ino. She was different. Shikamaru sighed and muttered his catchphrase.
"Ino, we can't. Prisoners have to stay until death, execution, or freedom," Shikamaru said. Ino pouted for a minute, but she grabbed Naruto's wrist and began to lead him out. Shikamaru blocked the exit. "Ino, I don't want us to get into trouble. As far as I'm concerned, Naruto is a traitor. He killed one of our own." Ino looked at the shadow-user and thought back on what that man said. Was Shikamaru one of those people? "If you take him out of here, you'll be a traitor as well and need to be captured." Naruto reacted then. He punched Shikamaru in the face, knocking him unconscious.
"Let's go," Naruto said. He picked Ino up and rushed out of the room. The guards were alerted as he ran by. Ino held onto him tightly as the prison was left behind them. "We can't stay in Konoha no more. We're do you think we should go?" Suna couldn't take them because it could cause a war between the allies. Ino mumbled something, and Naruto laughed. It was musical. "Thank you, Ino. You believed in me." They disappeared into the forest and away from Konoha.
Shikamaru bowed to the Hokage as he gave his report. Ino and Naruto escaped the prison and were gone completely. Tsunade dismissed him and looked at the paper on her desk. Her granduncle noted something about having help from a lovely couple by the name Uzukami. It spoke of how the husband, Naruto, was so devoted to his wife that he did anything she asked, which there was only love her pure.
"Tsunade-sama, what do you want to do about Uzumaki and Yamanaka?" an ANBU captain asked. Tsunade stood up and looked out the window at the Hokage's Mountain. She had her hands behind her back, meaning she was thinking. "They're traitors now." Tsunade nodded and looked at the ANBU captain. His team stood behind them. The dog mask on his face and the giant dog next to him gave away his identity to the Hokage, but she didn't care.
"Declare them dead and look for them from time to time. Naruto never truly belonged to Konoha. He was just along for the ride. Kiba, I want you to tell all of Naruto's friends and Ino's family, please." Tsunade went back to her paperwork and waited until the ANBU left to smile.
The only funeral they had was one for Ino. The story was that she had been kidnapped and killed by Naruto. The body couldn't be saved because it was burned completely through. Everyone that Ino knew came and cursed Naruto to the grave, which he was. Tsunade made a big speech about how great a shinobi Ino had been and looked at the people she just lied to. They were heartbroken.
Inuzuka Kiba cried out as he slammed the rock into the dirt. He sat down in his funeral clothes and looked at it. Just because they wouldn't give Naruto a funeral didn't mean Kiba couldn't. He spoke to the stone, saying that Naruto should take great care of Ino and how he would miss their fights. Kiba didn't know about the shadows behind him. Rookie Nine slowly gathered and paid respects to a stone slab that Kiba placed. Naruto's name had been crudely written.
"Naruto, I'm sorry that this wasn't beside Ino's…You loved her," Kiba said after everyone left. He walked away feeling so much better. Tomorrow, he was leaving on a mission to pretend to hunt missing-ninja. It was more of a vacation after what Kiba had to go through. Ino's parents didn't take the news well and the friends were angry and sad at the same time.
Konoha moved on. Kakashi didn't. He spent hours at the memorial stone for Obito and then at the stone slab with a crudely cut name. Konoha's Kyuubi festival was even better now that they added how the demon vessel died – from the story Tsunade gave them. Naruto and Ino's friends couldn't bring themselves to join the festival anymore. It made them sick to their stomachs every time.
Kiba couldn't keep it to himself anymore. He was driven mad, knowing he lied to his friends. Naruto once sent Kiba something in the mail. It was dog jutsu that the blonde had found. Kiba's ANBU team was the ones instructed to destroy the blonde's apartment; leaving no evidence that Uzumaki Naruto lived there.
The rest of the friends remembered the pair in their own way. Shikamaru still hated Naruto for taking Ino away, but he didn't show it anymore. Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten helped out at the flower shop. The boys spent most of their time at the ramen stand, filling Naruto's place when it came to the sales.
"Do you think we'll ever see Naruto and Ino again?" Sakura asked Kiba at Naruto's Stone. Kiba was depressed as usual on this day, a year after the pair took off. Ever since Kiba told only the shinobi from the Sasuke Retrieval team, he became extremely upset on the day. The dog ninja looked back at the pink medic.
"No…They're dead…Ino was killed by Naruto, who was sent on a blind rage from being accused of murder. He was crazy, I tell you. Naruto killed himself out of shame…Sakura, heaven doesn't exist," Kiba said. Sakura sighed and walked away. Kiba would sit there all day and look at the past bloodstains on the stone. He wiped his eyes several times because on his last mission, he met with Naruto once more. Naruto was alive and carrying some wood with three other men. The blonde wore no shinobi gear, but Kiba still recognized him. Naruto just gave him a smile before continuing on. "Thank you." Kiba got up at the end of the day and walked home, feeling so much better.
Naruto and Ino disappeared to a small village south of Konoha. They were accepted and were thought to be married. A lot of the women would make Ino blush red when they quizzed her on Naruto. Naruto would watch her from far away with soft eyes and a small smile. The men laughed at him, but he didn't care.
"Ino, aren't you ever afraid of him leaving you? That new girl has taken a fancy to him," an older woman asked. Ino worked at the small hospital due to her medical experience. She looked at the speaker, Ayame, and shrugged. "What?" Ino smiled.
"Naruto isn't going to stray. We're connected on a strange level. He'll always love me true and me the same. Naruto is too stupid to fall in love with someone. He's afraid of me," Ino said. Ayame and her laughed, and Naruto burst through the door. He was carrying a small child. His eyes were wide with fright. "Naruto?" Ino took the child from him and looked at the wounds. "It's okay." She could be talking to either the child or Naruto. Naruto sat against the wall and looked at his hands, coated in the child's blood. Silent tears came down his face.
"It's my fault…I've should've been watching the catch," Naruto mumbled. Once Ayame and Ino had the child stable, Ino sighed and walked over to him. She sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulder. "It's my fault." Naruto would only stare at his hands.
"Naruto, you can't stop everything bad from happening. Kyo is going to be okay. Just tell me what happened," Ino said. Naruto looked at her and looked as if he just realized she was there. He looked back down at his hands again and thought back on what happened. "Naruto, it'll help. I promise." Naruto gulped and clenched his fists.
"I've been working with the hunting crew lately. We were trailing a bear that we spotted, and little Kyo is the only man in his house. He wanted to prove to his mother that he could be a man. The bear attacked him. Ino, I went back to our teachings from Konoha," Naruto muttered. Ino kissed his temple and got him to be led to a bathroom to wash his hands. He didn't completely understand, but that was fine by him. He didn't have to.
"Naruto, don't cry anymore. You're a free person," Ino said. She brought him in spare doctor scrubs for him to change into. Naruto smiled and kissed her. "This is why I think you need more people in your family." Naruto looked at her and then shouted out in excitement.
A year after their defection from Konoha, Naruto was woken up at two in the morning to travel to the nursery. He yawned and reached the crib. His crying son, Taro, was reaching up to him. He smiled and gently lifted the baby out.
"Oh, Daddy got you," Naruto mumbled. The baby had nightmares sometimes, and Ino would kick Naruto awake to deal with it. Taro was Naruto's son from bedtime to wake up. Taro reached up and grasped a piece of Naruto's longish hair. Naruto giggled and kissed the baby's head. "Daddy would go any length to save you." Dreams of fire have bothered the blonde lately, but he would never let Taro die. "I'll rock you to sleep, okay?" Naruto went and sat down on the old rocking chair. "We'll just get you to sleep." Naruto slowly began rocking.
Ino woke up alone and was surprised. She got up and rushed to the nursery. She almost fainted from relief. On the rocking chair, Naruto was sleeping with his mouth hanging open and Taro held protectively in his arms. She smiled and walked out of the room. She left her innocent boys in the room to go make breakfast.
"I swear Naruto will always keep that innocent glint in his eyes," Ino muttered. She reached the kitchen and slumped her shoulders. "Taro is probably going to be the same. Damn, we should've had a girl." Ino sighed and went to making breakfast. Back in the room, Naruto was putting Taro back into the crib. He couldn't have a more perfect life.
How was that ending?