Ino checked the cabin over once, looking into each corner as she made sure that everything was clear. The captain and princess were in the main quarters of the ship, backs against the ship wall with Ino standing in front of the main door, her broadsword drawn. The two clones Naruto had sent to retrieve her were positioned outside the door, both transformed into simple crates, waiting for any surprise attack.

Settling the blade in front of herself, she ran a fine edge of chakra around the edge like Asuma sensei had taught her. 'I'm glad he got to teach me this before he died' she thought to herself, her mind focusing on the task at hand. She reached her consciousness out then stabbed her blade into the wooden deck. Pushing through the required chakra, she released one of families signature jutsu. "Mass mind reading technique".

Thoughts from around the ship flooded her consciousness, each one focused on a different crew member, many asleep. 'I didn't know Naruto was such a popular female ninja' Ino thought. Several of the crewmen had very naughty thoughts about the transformed Naruto. 'I'll have to let him know that when we arrive.' Ino blushed to herself, thinking of the reaction she would get.

'Seem's like our guests either aren't on the ship, or are using the memory erasing technique.' Ino grimaced as she finished her task, focusing her consciousness back to her immediate surroundings. 'Well, that was largely unfruitful…guess it's time for the old personal interrogation techniques.' A slight gleam came into the kunoichi's eyes. 'I guess I'll have to go make Anko sempia proud.'

The manic grin on her face set the captain and princess on edge, only furthered as the young maiden ripped her blade from the deck. "I'm leaving two guards outside the door here. You are free to move about this cabin, and I will have food brought to you, but for your safety you must remain here." Ino turned, placing her curved blade back into the hilt. "There was an attack on this evening, indicating not only that our enemy was able to discern which of our operatives were aboard but that the target is onboard as well." Ino fished into her pocket and procured a sealed scroll.

"What will happen if they attack again? This is an A-ranked mission right? That's what father said he would pay for!" The princess was obviously distressed, her hair in shambles from the rough awakening Ino had given. It was essential for the princess to be secured, but Ino still felt bad for rousing the girl in the middle of the night.

"This scroll should offer some protection. If you feel you are in grave danger, or one of us shows up, open this scroll and place your hand on the blank circle." Ino leaned down, pulling a kunai from her leg pouch. Taking the princesses hand, she pricked just a bit of a finger.

"Ouch! What the hell are you doing?" The captain quickly shushed the child.

"She's setting the scroll to activate upon your use of it." Reaching his hand out the old man consented to Ino pricking his hand as well. "There, now both of us can activate it, your highness. It will allow both of us to keep each other safe."

Ino nodded, before quickly using a tiny bit of chakra to heal the little wounds. "See, not even a scar left behind. Now then, you two just stay put, I'll be back in a little while." Stepping outside, the blonde noticed Kiba and Akamaru pulling Naruto aside. 'Good. That little wind trick got us out of harm's way, but it still was a bit frightening.' Ino watched as the young man bounded into the crow's nest. 'Guess he was a bit freaked out by the attack. Then again, he has some strong connections with the people of the Land of Spring.'

Shaking her head of these thoughts, Ino proceeded across the deck, shifting between water and wood walking on the slippery deck. 'This ship was chosen to keep the princess safe, as it would be very indiscriminate on the high seas.' Ino frowned as she progressed nearer to Kiba, motioning him over.

"Akamaru and I couldn't pick up any scent from the guy. Normally, even in this weather, we could get something, especially with a kunai from the guy in front of us." Kiba shook his head, Akamaru relaxing under his master's hand. "I don't know Ino, this guy seemed professional, at least jonin level. Normally Naruto would be able to flatten a guy like that, but this one came out of nowhere he said." The beast master was obviously concerned, shaking his head as he looked over the ship.

"Well, like I said, double watch tonight. Break out the soldier pills if you have to, Tsunade gave us a week's worth for this mission. I'll handle the middle shift with you, Naruto and I can take the morning shift." Ino placed her hand on the young man's shoulder. "I know I'm asking a lot of you two, but you're both some of the strongest ninja in the village. I'm sure you can handle it." Kiba nodded as Ino proceeded down into the cabin.

'Yeah, we are the strongest ninja in battle. Naruto's in a class of his own, but my lighting and fire techniques, combined with Akamaru give us a great deal of strength. On top of that, the dog contract we signed with Kakashi has been a great help.' The young man smiled at this, ruffling Akamaru's head. 'But it's our emotional strength I worry about. Especially Naruto. Losing Sakura really tore him up. Much like Hinata and myself.' The final battle with Madara had taken a toll on the leaf village shinobi, especially the kind hearted ones like Hinata. She pushed herself, saving many friends and allies, and yet she eventually fell to chakra exhaustion instead of any foe.

'Yeah, both of us got saved by those women. And now both of us are without them' Kiba's mood threatened to outdo the dark night of waves and sea. Akamaru, sensing his master's discomfort reached out and bit sharply on his hand. "Ow! God damn it Akamaru, that hurt! You're not a little pup anymore, you know?" The dog merely smiled at his master, nuzzling against the offended hand before licking it. "Yuck, now you go and lick it too? Ugh, sometimes you're a pain, you know that?" Akamaru merely barked and rubbed against the shinobi's hand more. "Fine, we'll do some rounds around the ship."

Feeling the night's edge get to him, Kiba took out a soldier pill, one for Akamaru and one for himself. "Here, you start the rounds, and I'll tell Naruto of the shifts, ok?" Akamaru greatfully leaned out and took the pill from Kiba, his fur turning a deep russet red. "Play nice with the other sailors though, allright?" Kiba smiled as his dog loped across the ship, his large form standing out among the alerted night crew, awake and ready for a further attack.

Using the strength of the soldier pill, Kiba shot up into the railings, quickly making his way to the crow's nest. "Hey, Naruto, we got more orders from the boss lady." Naruto grunted, continuing his sweep of the water.

'You know, Shikamaru is right, she is troublesome' the blonde thought to himself. "All right, what's the order for the watch?" Naruto relaxed for a second, turning to face the other teen.

"You and I are up first, Ino takes last two. You get the first and last ones".

"Good. That gives me a little chance to sleep. I take it we are on soldier pills rations for the rest of the time?"

"Yeah, hopefully it won't be too bad. I don't know about you, but after a day or two they leave me edgy."

Naruto nodded his agreement, looking over the railing. "All right, so you want the rounds downstairs, right?" Kiba nodded, turning and jumping off the railing. 'This is going to be a long night' Naruto thought to himself, turning back to his post.

Morning found the sea breeze blowing through Naruto's hair, his clones spread out across the deck in various guises. 'I really should think about staffing a ship all on my own at this rate.' Chuckling to himself as he moved around the ship, Naruto was glad to see the shoreline in sight. 'I don't think that's the right port from what I remember. Guess my wind boost put us a little off course. Oh well, we can hire out a train at least now that we're here.'

The princess was known to be marrying the lord here; it was the passage that was tricky. Not only were they passing near the sound village on the trip, the very departure of Naruto from Konoha could raise village suspicions elsewhere.

'I may have a good rep in some countries, but the world at large knows me as the one who defeated Pain and Madara. I guess it makes sense that others are a little afraid of me.' Naruto turned and looked at the city.

Ino called Naruto to the main mast, joined quickly by Kiba from below deck. "Guess we made it here in one piece." She turned and handed the two additional scrolls. "These contain the rest of the mission parameters. Read them at your leisure while we dock. We are a little off from our original location, but we will be arriving at a decent village where we should be able to lie low." To the relief of all the ninja the storm from the night before had not returned, nor was it anywhere on the horizon.

Nodding, the two male ninja accepted the scrolls. "I'll see both of you after we land for the debriefing. Catch a few z's if you can, I know I will be." With that, the blonde performed the Body Flicker technique, returning to her bed.

"I'm going to give this a read over, I already popped a soldier pill a little bit ago" Naruto turned, jumping into the main mast, leaving Kiba by himself.

"Well, come on Akamaru, we'll just go see if we can find some grub downstairs."

Author's Note: Hey everyone, big exam next week, so there will be at least a one week hiatus until I can get back into the swing of things. Expect similar sized posts each time. This one was a bit long to make up for the extra time away. Thanks again guys! Later!