I don't own Naruto.

Anyways, some people have been asking about me making a harem in this fic. For my decision I'm going to be honest with you and say…. I don't know yet haha. I definitely did not plan on making one in the beginning, but after reading a few reviews I'm not so sure anymore. For one, I do not like being told what is right and wrong to do when it comes to a judgment call and a certain reviewer has made me want to rebel and make this a harem (I blame my rebellious attitude on listening to too much Bad Religion hehe). Whether I do make this a harem or not I can promise some steamy moments in the future. Naruto will probably be hit on really hard in the least. I'll see how I feel when I write the parts because I'm still winging the story.

Also, I'm thinking of switching the genre possibly to include humor. Although after this chapter I might have to add gore and angst to it haha. Seriously though, part of this chapter is quite gory. I'm sorry if it offends.

I got chapter six here for ya!

(In Ino's memory)

Sakura looked around the room and noticed the slight differences between this one and the duplicate she has been staying in sporadically for the past three years. A broken window and broken walls were the most notable of differences, but overall the only real difference was the quality. The old room appeared to have been ransacked or destroyed multiple different times, while the new apartment was basically pristine on the inside. Thanks mostly to Sakura's effort to keep it nice for when Naruto returned.

The pinkette stood next to the blonde mind-walker as they looked down at a young boy playing with a stuffed bear. He was lying back on his bed throwing the stuffed animal up and down with a smile on his face. "Hey Teddy-chan! Do you know what today is?" The boy paused and caught the bear so it would look as if it was replying. "That's right it's my birthday!" The young Naruto stood up and swung around in circles while hold the bear by its arms. "I'm five today!" As the boy was having fun swinging his bear a brick with a note attached to it flew through the window and hit the floor with a loud thud. Naruto stopped twirling his bear and stuffed it under his arm. "Would you look at that Teddy-chan!" He said as he pointed at the brick on the floor. "The villagers got me another present and it came with a letter!" He picked up the brick and brought it to a corner where Sakura could see at least seven other bricks. The note was thrown in the garbage since he already kind of knew what it said. They always said the same thing.

Sakura looked to her side and saw Ino whimpering as her hand covered her mouth. She noticed that the brick that flew through the window didn't break any glass. 'The window was probably broken long before by one of the other bricks in the corner of the room.' Sakura whimpered a little just as Ino did. 'Oh Naruto.'

The pinkette heard a crowd outside shouting something, but her attention turned to Naruto again as she heard him speak. "So Teddy-chan. I know it's rude to ask, but did you get me anything?" The boy said as he held the bear in front of him. Using the stuffed paw of the bear he pushed a small cupcake forward with a candle sticking out of it. "Oh thanks Teddy-chan! You're the best!" The small boy screamed in excitement as he presented himself a cupcake. He tugged the bear into a hug and smiled into its stained fur.

Sakura looked down at the cupcake and cringed at the sight of it. It was obviously really old and by the looks of it slightly molding. The candle sticking out of it was no better. It was far too wide for the small cupcake and it was almost completely melted with only about an inch of the length left. She was almost certain he found that candle in the garbage. She thinks he may have found the cupcake in the trash as well. 'This is his birthday? I knew he was an orphan, but I thought he'd been in an orphanage most of his life. Why is he living here alone at five?' Sakura had more questions, but she didn't waste her time thinking about them because there was no one to answer her.

The blonde boy sat on his bed in front of his birthday meal with his stuffed best friend in his lap. With his eyes closed and his hands clasped together he shouts. "I wish to be the Hokage and have the entire village respect me!" Taking the biggest breath he could Sakura watched Naruto blow out the candle with all of his might. Even after the candle was out Naruto kept blowing on it for good measure until his breath finally ran out leaving him heaving and panting for air. When he finally caught his breath he pulled his bear to face him. "Gotta make sure the candle's out or my wish might not come true." He said while smiling to his bear. Sakura and Ino finally let loose a smile for the first time in the memory. "Now it's time to eat!"

The hungry boy got ready to dig into his corroding meal, but another brick flew through the window. "The villagers are really being generous today Teddy-chan." Naruto stuffs his bear under his arm again and walks over to the brick. "Oooooo this one has a note on it too!" He picked up the brick and stared at the note wrapped around it as it started sizzling. "Well that's strange don't you think buddy?" He said as he looked down at the bear he had stuffed under his arm.

Sakura and Ino froze. They both tried to dash forward and knock the brick out of his hand while yelling some combination of 'no' and 'throw it away', but they both flew right through him having forgotten this was just a memory. It was too late anyways. As the blonde and pink haired girls hit the floor in front of the young boy they realized they only succeeded in gaining a front row seat to the horror.

Their faces were only a foot away as the paper bomb attached to the brick explodes in Naruto's hand. A blinding light made the girls shield their eyes, but they both saw what happened to Naruto. His body flew six feet back into the wall behind him and knocked off a large chunk of drywall before he hit the ground. The two girls slowly uncovered their eyes as they adjusted back to the small light left in the room made by the torches lit by the mob outside. A cheer was heard outside the window, but the girls didn't care about those monsters. They were both frightened to look at Naruto. A loud cry from Ino alerted Sakura and she knew her friend already looked, but the pinkette was still too afraid to open her eyes and look for herself.

As Sakura's hands slowly fell from her face and she peered over at Naruto she couldn't help, but to cry out in horror. In front of her was no longer the fragile, beautiful, young boy she saw moments earlier, but what lay in his place looked far worse than any patient she has ever seen come into her hospital dead or alive. All of his blonde hair was burned off leaving only black skin and blood pouring out of his head. Most of his clothes were burned off leaving him naked while his bare chest was now either blackened or missing chunks of flesh. However, none of this compared to his arm. The right hand that picked up the brick was all but gone. His arm was split down the middle from between his middle and ring finger down to his elbow and Sakura could see that the ulna and radius that made up the bones in his forearm had completely separated. The two sides of his forearm spasmed and flapped around as blood poured out from his entire body. He didn't even look human anymore.

Sakura couldn't watch any longer. She has worked as a medic for a long time and seen many things, but never has she witnessed something like this, never to a child. She turned away and covered her face with her hands. Keeping her fingers over her eyes for the rest of the memory seemed like a good idea if she hadn't heard Ino scream. "Do not look away!" The newly arrived Kyuubi yelled at the screaming Ino whose hands had covered her face.

"I can't! Please!" Ino yelled back.

Sakura watched as the Kyuubi walked forward and threw Ino's hands behind her back with one hand and held Ino's hair by the pony tail with the other. "Watch!" Sakura wanted to help her friend, but she knew she was watching Ino's memory and there was nothing she could do since it already happened.

Ino kept her eyes clamped shut.

"If you do not open your eyes now I will sew your eyelids back into your face and force you to witness this!" The Kyuubi said with a growl as her nine tails sprouted from her lower back and constricted Ino's torso.

Ino's eyes slowly opened as tears drained down her cheeks. The display of fear and courage strengthened the weary Sakura's resolve. 'I'm going to watch this. For Naruto.' She turned her head and looked back to the broken boy lying on the ground.

The sound of his frantic crying and gurgling finally reached her ears and the sight was again too much for Sakura to bear. She turned away once more ashamed of her own cowardice. Looking away seemed like the only option when she saw Naruto reaching, with his destroyed arm, for a smoldering pile of ash. The only thing Sakura could make out of the pile was a furry stuffed arm that looked familiar. She couldn't make out what he said between the spurts of blood and teeth pouring out of his mouth, but the look of sadness in his eyes was more than she could handle.

The floor shook only slightly as Sakura's drained body hit the floor and she wrapped her arms around her legs. She was oblivious to everything around her. She didn't even notice the Sandaime when he disposed of the crowd outside or when he scooped up Naruto to bring him to the hospital.

"Sakura." The pinkette looked up and noticed she was no longer in Naruto's room and her blonde friend had her hand on her shoulder. A sigh of relief left Sakura's lips as she noticed she was back in Ino's room and out of that nightmare. Ino looked over at her friend with a sad smile. "Did you see what you wanted?"

Sakura put her head back in her lap and sobbed. "I... never knew."

The blonde sighed and threw an arm around her friend. "No one knew. He is very good at hiding his past."

"I knew that he had a bad childhood, but I never expected that."

Ino took her arm off of Sakura's shoulder leaving a cold spot that made the medic shiver. "That wasn't a bad day."

Sakura's head flew up exposing her wide eyes. "What? That was terrible! I've never seen anything so atrocious in my life!" She couldn't believe there was anything worse than what she just saw.

The sound of Ino's crying let her know she wasn't lying. "It gets so much worse." Her crying intensified. "I saw everything." Now was Sakura's turn to comfort her friend. The pink haired medic wrapped her friend in a hug and rubbed her hands down her back while she whispered words of comfort to her and they both cried for the sake of their dear friend. When Ino's crying finally slowed she found the will to speak. "Thanks Sakura. I'm glad you visited me."

"It's ok. I wanted to. Thank you for showing me that memory Ino. It really helps me begin to understand Naruto a little more." She unwrapped her friend from her hug and stood up while they both wiped tears from their eyes. "I'm sorry. I really want to stay here, but I have work soon. Is it ok if I come back later?"

Ino nods. Sakura turned to walk to the door, but was stopped when her friend called out to her. "You know..." She paused and furrowed her brow to think of the right words to use. "... the stuff that happened to him was terrible..." She put her head a little farther down. "... but what you did must have hurt him far more than any of the other things." Ino looked up at her pink haired friend with a frown across her features. "Normally I can't feel the emotions of the person when I look through their memories, but when you did what you did I could feel every second of it." Sakura turned away in shame. A sad look begging for forgiveness covered Ino's face. "I'm really sorry about hurting you when we were at the gate it's just I can't deal with my emotions as well as Naruto and I kind of got carried away."

Sakura sighed. "It's ok Ino. I deserve much worse." She turned to leave only to be stopped again.

"Sakura there's one more thing I need to tell you." A pink tint, almost like she was embarrassed, grew on Ino's face.

"Yeah?"

The blonde stood and walked to her friend. "Well... in Naruto's memory with you I could feel EVERY second of it." She emphasized the word 'every' for some reason, but Sakura still couldn't understand why she was repeating what she just said.

"I understand that. It's why you were angry with me." Sakura said not comprehending the hints Ino was giving her.

The blonde leaned closer and gently put her hand on Sakura's cheek. "Every second."

Realization dawned on the medic. Sakura leaned her head back against the frame of the door and a blush slowly crept onto her cheeks. "So hypothetically….. you kissed me too?" She said in a questioning tone.

The blue eyed blonde slowly moved forward and pressed her chest against Sakura. With her hand still gently resting on the pinkette's cheek, she planted a soft kiss on her neck. She felt Sakura jolt at the new sensation, but not move away. Ino's free hand moved around Sakura's back and gripped her firmly so she couldn't escape her embrace even if she wanted to. "His emotions from that day are still stuck in my head." She said as she nibbled slightly on Sakura's ear before lamentably moving away. The husky tone and gentle breathing Sakura felt moving across her ear made her uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. "I can't get you out of my mind Sakura."

"Ugh…. Ino. I'm not….." Sakura stuttered. Before Sakura can say anything else, Ino closed her eyes and placed a chaste, lingering kiss on Sakura's lips. The sensation of another girls lips on her own sparked a felling the pinkette has never had before. In her life she believed she had only kissed two people, Sasuke and Naruto. Her first two kisses were both gentle and loving. This kiss was very different. Although lips softer than her own were pushed against her the kiss was strong and almost possessive. It was unexplainable to Sakura. Was it good? Was it bad or right or wrong for that matter? She didn't know if it was, but she did know that it wasn't entirely unwelcome.

Ino broke the kiss to her own dismay and leaned back. "Please don't say anything Forehead. I said before that Naruto has far better control over himself than I do. I'm acting on feelings that I'm not sure are my own." Ino sighed and walked back to her bed. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not a lesbian, but I also don't regret what I just did at all."

"Ino I…."

"We can talk about this later." She gave her a soft smile. "Right now you have to go to work." The extremely confused and slightly scared Sakura merely nodded and rushed out the door leaving a flustered Ino behind. The blonde's hand reached up to touch her lips and a large smile broke out on her face. 'I'm still not sure what's going on with my feelings, but I think I should avoid getting too close to her for now.' She licked her lips to savor the taste of her friend. 'At least out of arms reach.' She tried to bargain with her subconscious so she could get closer to Sakura.

(Line break)

Sakura walked erratically down the road after she left Ino's house. 'What the hell was that?' Comprehension of the events that just occurred in Ino's room seemed like a daunting task at the moment. 'One second we were crying and the next Ino was forcing herself on me!' The pinkette rolled a hand through her hair to calm herself down. 'Ok. I need to stop this.' She stopped walking and leaned against a wall to take a deep breath. 'I need to clear my mind of my own problems. People's lives depend on me and I need to be level headed. I'll have plenty of time to figure out what the fuck just happened when I'm done with work.'

Clearing her head of her friend's odd behavior wasn't too difficult for Sakura, but that wasn't what she was really worried about anyways. Every time she closed her eyes she could see Naruto's anguished face and she would flinch. Flinching during an operation is a serious problem so she had to remedy her problem immediately. Images of the burned and broken boy flooded her mind if she so much as blinked. She decided there was no way to get the images out of her head so she will just have to stop allowing it to outwardly affect her. Instead of trying to block the horrible images she worked to consolidate them. She closed her eyes knowing it wouldn't give her psyche any peace, but this way she will still be able to function and perform her duties. After a few moments of meditation she trudged off to work. Her body may seem alive, but her eyes showed that on the inside she was dying of heartache and misery caused by her own uselessness as Naruto's friend.

(Line break)

Naruto was still sitting at the training grounds trying to perfect his five elemental rasengans. He found that the combinations of two rasengans yielded amazing results. He conjured up a rasengan on his pointer finger and thumb. The pointer finger rasengan was imbued with the water element while the thumb had fire. Slowly he lessened the distance between the two rasengans and watched the outcome. A bright liquid poured out from the space between them, but when it hit the ground it started on fire like napalm. Putting the fire out was nearly impossible and when he tried to douse it with water it only spread. He also noticed that the closer he brought the rasengans the farther the liquid shot. He didn't test it because he was still unable to put out the small fire he created, but it seemed likely he could make it into a mid to long range jutsu if he wanted.

Naruto was going to test the fire and wind element next, but he remembered being blasted through the forest earlier and opted to try water and earth rasengans instead. The result was mud. Naruto's face went pale when he saw the weak result of his hard work so he pounded his hand into the ground out of frustration. When his hand hit the ground he watched the mud he made slam deep into the earth. 'What the hell?' He stood over the hole the mud created and looked into it to see the mud at the bottom of the pit. He slammed his hand down again and watched it go deeper. Trying another approach Naruto threw his hand up in the air and watched in amazement as the mud rose out of the pit and jumped thirty feet in the air. Naruto gave a wide grin. He flipped his hand around a few times and found out that he would need a lot more practice to control the mud, but the uses of this jutsu were making Naruto so excited he almost wet himself. 'If I can get control of this I can use it just like Gaara uses his sand!' Naruto put his finger to his chin and thinks. 'I just need more control and then I can harden it into a gourd just like him.' He created an army of shadow clones tasked with learning how to control the mud and he got back to his personal training. 'If I can't learn it I could always ask Gaara for help I guess.'

Naruto thought about how it is he controlled the mud and had a revelation. He pointed his hand at the liquid fire he created and closed his fingers. As soon as he did the fire went out. "Cool." He whispered to himself. 'I figured that might work. I think my chakra is imbued in everything I make so I can control them.'

"Naruto-kun." The Kyuubi speaks up in a concerned voice.

'Hey Kyuubi-chan! What's up?'

"I've been watching your training and I must say I'm very concerned."

Naruto is confused. 'Huh? Why?'

"You just made a set of jutsu that are far higher than any S ranked jutsu ever created and you did it in an hour."

'You think those were cool just wait until I combine all five elements.' He gleefully said.

"Naruto-kun don't. I can't imagine what would happen if you let those five elements touch each other like you plan."

Naruto put his head down. 'I'm sorry.'

"No! You have accomplished something I have never seen another human do in my long life and I am highly impressed Naru-kun. Don't misunderstand me. You are the most amazing person I have ever met and if that wasn't enough you are the only person who has ever had the ability to frighten me." She said trying to calm Naruto down. Obviously she didn't understand how to make a correct compliment.

Tears formed in Naruto's eyes. 'I... frighten you?'

"Oh Naruto-kun." She says softly. "I could never be frightened of you." She pulled him into his mind-scape and Naruto now stood in front of the Kyuubi with a sad look on his face. The Kyuubi walked forward and pulled him into a hug. "I'm not frightened of you. I said you had the ability to frighten me. There's a difference."

Naruto let loose a smile while he returned the hug. "Ha. That's a really lame excuse Kyuubi-chan."

"It's not an excuse. I wanted you to know that if you desired you could make the fearless back down and the most proud of people doubt themselves. It's just one of the many things I love about you. It's why you are the only one who knows my real name." She cuddled further into his chest.

"Your name... I won't call you by your name and you know that."

"And yet again you give me another reason to love you. The name Kyomu was given to me long ago. No longer does it hold any merit. So long as I am with you the nothingness that name represents means nothing to me. I only told you my real name because in my time only one other person is allowed to know your true name and that is the person you will love forever."

"I love you too Kyuubi-chan." Naruto gave her the smile he reserved only for her.

The Kyuubi pulled her head back, but kept her arms wrapped around him. "So Naruto-kun. I think I may have found you an excellent mate!"

"Ahh Kyuubi-chan I thought I told you not to do that!" He said sounding like a whiney baby.

"No this one is a winner! It's that mind-walker that intruded into our personal space not too long ago." She said smiling.

"Ino? Please don't do this. I'm really not looking for someone right now." He put his head down in quiet shame.

The Kyuubi frowned. "Did you know she cares deeply for you?"

"Really? How do you know?" Naruto scoffed

"I had a... talk with her."

(Flashback to when Ino was in Naruto's mind)

The Kyuubi stood over Ino as the last memory she intended to show her finished. The sobbing mind-walker lay weak and defeated in front of her. Being the ever patient and merciful demon she was, the Kyuubi let Ino finish her crying before she spoke up. "What do you think of Naruto-kun now?"

Ino picked herself up off the ground and wiped away a few stray tears. "Naruto-kun is the most amazing person I have ever met. I can't believe that such an all around beautiful person could have been raised in such a way."

"Yes I know he is amazing. So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. I realize I may have looked down at Naruto-kun when we were young, but that was before I got to know him. After the Pain attack I started to talk to him. He was the most sincere and nice person I have ever met. Did you know that he rebuilt my house before it was commissioned to be rebuilt? I was just carrying some water to the workers one day and I saw it standing alone in the exact same spot where it used to be." She smiled at the memory. "The inside of the house was spaced a little differently, but the outside was flawlessly built the same way we had it before the attack right down to the color of our deck."

The Kyuubi chuckled. "It was a little different on the inside because he was never in there before so he had to guess. The outside is a different story. He had spent countless hours staring at your house when he was young."

A look of confusion spread across Ino's face. "What do you mean countless hours? Why would he come to my house and not come in?"

The Kyuubi gave a small smile at her reaction. "I didn't show you those memories, but you saw how everyone treated him. You think your looking down on him made him unhappy, but it actually had the opposite effect. You were the first person to not ignore him. He loved when you yelled at him or bonked him on the head because you didn't do it out of hate, only annoyance. You were one of his precious people before you ever realized. He would have died for you in an instant if he thought you were ever in trouble so he would spend hours outside your house just waiting to catch a glimpse of you."

"Really? He would die for me?" Her hand moved across her chest.

"Yes. He cares for you more than you can imagine. He also cares for the pink woman and it is beginning to become a problem."

"You mean Sakura?

"Yes, but never mind that for now. The reason I made you watch these memories is because I was testing you. I wanted to know of your feelings concerning his life. I will tell you now that you passed and I have deemed you worthy.

Anger engulfed Ino. "This was all a test! And what the hell do you mean 'deemed me worthy!'"

The Kyuubi sighed and ran a hand through her wild red and black hair. "I'm going to ask you a question and you had better answer me honestly because I will know if you're lying and that won't end well for you. If Naruto chose you would you be his mate?"

The look of anger was still across Ino's face. "What do you mean his mate! I'm not some breeding machine." She said ruefully.

The beautiful demon furrowed her brow in frustration. "Dammit that's not what I mean. Uh... what do you call them now... oh yeah! Would you be his girlfriend?"

Ino stopped glaring and let out a smile. "Well... if Naruto-kun liked me too then... yeah maybe."

"Good. He has been haunted by his love for the pink woman and I want you to help him. However, if you hurt him like she did, know that I will do everything in my power to reach you and make you pay." The Kyuubi said giving the coldest death glare she could to get rid of any notion that she wasn't serious. "And please, take it slow with him. He has been through so much."

Ino gulped at the Kyuubi's threat. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

The Kyuubi sighed already knowing what she was going to ask. "If you must."

"Why do you care about him so much? I would think that you would be the only person with a legitimate reason to not like him."

The sighed again. "Fine I guess you deserve to know that much after what I put you through." The Kyuubi sat down cross legged. "You must have noticed it by now." The Kyuubi looked up into Ino's eyes, while she brushed her red and black hair off of her mocha colored face. "I felt it much too late for my own good."

"Felt what?"

"Naruto... is like a natural intoxicant. I don't know what it is, but anyone who meets him is instantly drawn to him. I've seen it a lot these past few years. He would walk into a town and a week later people were ready to drop everything just to follow him."

"What? Why?" Ino quirked her eyebrow in confusion.

"He doesn't do it on purpose. His nature just brings out the best in those around him and when he leaves it feels like there is a void that can't be filled." She lazily pointed a finger at Ino. "You didn't notice it at all? You only started talking to him a month before he left, but when he returned did you even realize how happy you were?"

Ino is taken back by the truth in the demon's words. "I didn't even realize how little I actually talked to him. In the past three years I've thought about him so much, but I barely knew anything about him."

"I understand." The Kyuubi blushed. "I can tell you that the more you are around him the stronger those feelings will grow, but do not fret for I am happier now than I have ever been."

"Really? So what made you fall for him?"

The Kyuubi crossed her arms. "I'm not going to tell you my personal business. You should be grateful for what I've already told you."

Ino refused to give up. "Well, if Naruto does like me then you will see a lot more of me and I want to know more about you. There are moments with you I find frightening, but sometimes you act really…. womanly."

She turned her head slightly to give Ino a small glare. "Naruto's nature has rubbed off on me during my time with him. I wasn't always so open."

"Speaking of that, I think Naruto has rubbed off on me too."

"What do you mean?" The Kyuubi canceled her glare jutsu and replaced it with a confused one.

Ino blushed slightly. "I ummmm... I felt one of his memories and now I kind of want what he wants."

"Which memory?"

"The one with Sakura." She said quickly.

The Kyuubi furrowed her brow and sighed. "I see….. I apologize, but I'm afraid there is nothing I can do about that. You will be stuck with those feelings unless you can discern the difference between how you feel for her and how he feels for her."

"Oh." She had a worried look on her face.

The powerful demon felt a pang of remorse so she decided to cut the girl a break. "Very well I will let you know why I fell for him." Ino perked up as if her sadness was only a ruse to guilt the Kyuubi into spilling some gossip. "The first thing that drew me to Naruto happened during the time our chakras began to combine with each other. At the time I only wanted to escape his body and I was never kind to him. The only time I said anything to him was when I was threatening to kill him and I would often try to take over his body. When the combination process began it was excruciating for me, but instead of leaving me alone with my suffering he came through the bars of my prison and held me as I wept. Even when I lashed out and hurt him he refused to leave me until my pain receded. After that day I started to speak to him and before I knew it I was entranced."

"So he held you and you fell in love with him?"

The Kyuubi scoffed. "It wasn't as simple as that and no that wasn't the day I fell in love with him. The day I fell in love with him was the day he asked to court me."

"He what?" The blonde yelled, which only worked to piss off the Kyuubi.

"He walked up to me one day and asked, 'Would you give me the privilege of walking down your path and do me the honor of walking down mine?' and after that I couldn't deny my feelings for him anymore." A small smile formed on her lips that looked like the very description of girlishness. Her cryptic description of Naruto's words only confused Ino further.

"I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"It was so cute. He did a lot of research about the customs of demons as well as the time period of my creation. Relationships in the demon world were sparse and the only form of intimacy between us was for procreation. He found that demons do not marry so there was no dating ritual for us to perform. Occasionally a bond between two demons formed and they would ask each other to walk the same path so they could spend more time together. Basically he was asking me out."

"So you and Naruto are dating?"

"I told him no." She sighed in remorse.

"Why? I thought you loved him."

"It's because I love him that I said no. I want nothing more than to take him away and leave every one of you behind, but that would be selfish of me. I want him to have the things I can't give him. I want him to have a family. If I knew of a way to make myself transubstantiate then I would do it and stay with Naruto wherever he wanted while we raised children of our own, but I cannot."

The mind-walker put her head down. "I'm very sorry."

The Kyuubi put her hand up. "Don't be. My path and his will forever be connected. I may have said no, but that doesn't change the fact that I am bound to him and he is bound to me in a literal sense. Plus, if I were to have said yes wouldn't that mean he is dating himself? He's already odd enough don't you think?" The Kyuubi let out a slight giggle.

Ino held back her surprise at the Kyuubi's giggle and let a small one out herself. "Yeah he is."

"However, lately I have felt my will cracking." Her head lowered and a sad smile formed on her soft lips. "I don't want to say no to him anymore. I've become so desperate that I appear to him while he sleeps. When he wakes up and asks me about it I pretend it wasn't real and make fun of him for dreaming about me."

"You go into his dreams? What do you do in there that you won't do normally?"

The Kyuubi looked at Ino with an embarrassed glare. "I will not tell you what I do in his dreams and you cannot guilt me into it this time. I've had enough of this sharing. I will talk to Naruto about you. Remember what you have seen here. Reflect on it as long as you wish and then leave. If you disperse your jutsu it will allow you enter your own body once more." The Kyuubi said before disappearing and leaving a dumbstruck Ino.

Ino's thoughts instantly went back to the things she saw in the memories. The talk with the Kyuubi was a welcome distraction to the pain in her heart. She was trying to cover her feelings with light hearted chatter, but now there was no Kyuubi to talk to and she was alone with her thoughts. The omnipresent sadness wasn't able to be dulled and she began to cry once more. Not wanting to be in Naruto's mind for longer than she was welcomed, she dispersed her jutsu and left his body to rejoin everyone at the gate.

(Flashback end)

"You had a talk with Ino?"

"You shouldn't concern yourself with that, but I think you should visit her."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I know. I promised her I would stop over soon. I guess I've had enough training for one day anyways." He prepared to leave his mind, but is stopped as the Kyuubi holds him tight. She pulled him to the ground and lay on top of him. The black and red tresses of her hair mixed with the blonde and red of his as she cuddled deeper into his chest. "Well maybe I can stay a little longer." Naruto said with a chuckle.

The Kyuubi only intertwined their legs and purred with content. Naruto concentrated for a moment and the cold cellar they were previously occupying turned into a beautiful field of wild daisies. They both look across the field at the never ending sunset that stood complacently at the horizon. "I like this scenery a lot more." The soft mocha colored skin of her hand shone through the fading sun as she gently caressed Naruto's face. Her bright cherry colored eyes closed and her white and red kimono splayed across Naruto's body as she stretched her legs across him. Quietly and peacefully the demon drifted off to sleep.

Naruto looked down at his beautiful prisoner and smiled. "Thank you for walking down my path, even though you won't let me down yours… yet." He planted a small kiss on her forehead and regrettably left his mind not noticing the small curve that formed on her lips.

Once he was back into the real world he dispersed the clones he had working on the new mud jutsu he created. Memories of repeated failures slam into his mind. 'Oh man! I can barely control the movement of the mud let alone harden it.' He furrowed his brow. 'I guess I do need Gaara's help.' Without making any hand signs a clone appeared next to him and ran off to deliver a message to the kage of the Sand nation via messenger hawk.

(Line break)

Naruto walked through town towards Ino's house. He was finally going to keep his word and visit her like he said he would. On the way he noticed the old districts have changed since the attack by Pain. Many of the same people still live there and the buildings are still constructed in a similar way as before, but what had changed are the attitudes of the townsfolk. No one gave him so much as a glare. The men smiled at him or thanked him. Some invited him over for dinner with their families or out for drinks on them. The women? Well, they did just as he expected and lamented. A swoon on his right, a squeal on his left, and multiple approaches from the more eager or less inhibited ones with less than virtuous offers of 'best nights' and 'generous thanks.'

He sighed happily as he approached Ino's door and the crowd of women backed away in fear of the kunoichi inside. Ino was well known for prying into the minds of people who bothered her and using the information she gathered against them. None of the women wanted to invoke her wrath. They were happy to wait until Naruto left her house to pursue him further.

Naruto knocked on the door and contentedly waited for an answer. When none came he knocked again, but still no one came. Thinking no one was home Naruto turned around to leave when the door flew open and a hand ripped him back into the house by his collar. The jinchuuriki was thrown onto a couch and with no time to recover before he was wrapped up by a sobbing blonde. "Hey Ino-chan. Ummm what's going on?"

She uncoiled her arms slightly and looked up at him. "I'm just so happy to see you!" She pressed her soft face into his neck.

"Well I'm happy to see you too. Why are you crying?" The mind-walker remembered what the Kyuubi said about Naruto loving when he was bonked on the head and she faked an angry look to scare him.

"You never called!"

BONK!

"You never wrote!"

SMACK!

"And worst of all you never visited!"

CRUNCH!

"If I didn't miss you so much I would kick your ass all day!" She yelled as she dove down and hugged him again.

Naruto rubbed his head where she hit him. The hits didn't hurt, but they were never intended to harm him and they both knew that. It was for nostalgia's sake. Well….. maybe he should have also written a letter, but it was mostly for nostalgia. "I'm sorry Ino-chan. I didn't know you cared so much." He gave her the largest grin he could.

"Baka." She let go of him and crossed her arms as she turned away with a cute pout on her lips. "Of course I missed you. We all did."

"Now do you mind if I ask why you were crying earlier?" He said as he picked her face up to look at him.

"Well I was crying because I was happy to see you, but honestly I'm surprised." She said in a soft tone.

"Why are you surprised?" Naruto grinned once more. "Didn't expect to be so amazed by me?"

"No. I knew I would cry, but I thought it would be because I was sad."

Naruto sighed. "This is because of Kyuubi-chan isn't it?"

"It's not her fault Naruto-kun. She really cares for you." She leaned forward and held him gently. "She showed me your life." Naruto's eyes went wide with fear. "I don't know how you turned out as perfect as you are, but after I saw all the horrible things you went through I wanted to hole myself away and never leave my house. Then I saw you standing outside my door and all my sadness went away and was replaced with joy that you're finally back in Konoha and you're safe!"

"Well I'm glad you are better Ino-chan. I came here thinking the worst and I can't tell you how happy I am to see you're well." He gave her a small happy smile. It was the kind of smile that let the person receiving it know that they are cared for and loved by the person giving it. She melted into his arms like butter on a hot day.

Naruto stood up and Ino whined. "Where are you going? You just got here!"

Naruto lowers his hand to help her stand. "I'm not going to leave you yet Ino-chan." He said as he smiled at her. "You shouldn't assume things just because I stood up."

She took his hand blushing that she jumped to conclusions. "So what are you doing then?"

"Well I just got done with some training and I'm starving. I was wondering if you wanted to eat with me." He put his hand over his empty stomach.

Ino squealed in delight. "Yeah!" She corrected herself. "Ummmm I mean yes that would be lovely Naruto-kun." She ran up the stairs to her room and yelled back. "Just give me a minute!" Clothes were thrown around wildly as she rummaged through her drawers looking for the specific purple top that made her chest pop. 'I'm calling this a date. I don't care if he doesn't think so!'

Naruto lay on the couch bored out of his mind. "She said it would only be a minute twenty minutes ago." He said while he buried his face into a cushion and a loud resounding growl emanated from his stomach.

The sound of a voice clearing made him hit the floor in shock. "Sorry for making you wait so long Naruto-kun."

Naruto picked his head up to look at the mind walker. "Well that's no probleeeeeeahhhhh..." Naruto drooled as Ino leaned over him with her arms held casually behind her back to allow her ample breasts to hang in front of his face. The purple top she was wearing looked oddly similar to the one she wore when she was a genin. With how tight it fit around her chest Naruto didn't doubt that it was the exact same top she used to wear. A small break in her attire revealed the unbelievably sexy zone known as 'Ino's midriff.' Although she only revealed a small amount of her stomach before her skirt began to cover it, the small area of skin that was shown was a smooth white patch of firm beauty. That brought Naruto's attention to her skirt. Or what little there was of it anyways for it stopped so high on her legs that Naruto had to close his eyes to stop from finding out what color underwear she was wearing... if she had any on at all he thought deviously.

Ino pretended that Naruto didn't just eye fuck her until she couldn't walk and gave a cute little smile. "Good. I'm glad it's no probleeeeeaah. Whatever the hell that means." She offered him a hand, which he gratefully took and stood up. "So where do you want to eat?" She said as she wiggled her breasts around to entice his eyes.

To Ino's dismay Naruto was too strong to fall prey to her whimsical advances and he never looked down at her swaying chest. "I was thinking Ichiraku's if that's ok with you Ino-chan."

Ino blushed slightly still not fully used to being called Ino-chan. "Sure. I haven't been there in a long time." She started to walk towards the door before she turned around and gave him her best pout. "But next time you take me out to eat we need to go somewhere different. You can't just eat ramen all the time Na-ru-to-kun." She said his name slow and seductive as her big blue eyes glittered with little sparkles.

Naruto stopped. 'Oh Ino. It's cute that you're trying, but now that I'm ready for your sexy little tactics I won't lose my cool.' She pouted her lips a little harder and Naruto fidgeted. 'Ehh. Well I can keep it under wraps most of the time.' She turned around and swayed her hips as she walked to the door, which left Naruto checking his nose for blood. 'Damn. This is gonna be hard.'

The name Kyomu means nothingness.

That's chappy 6! You like? I honestly never thought I'd write anything like this when I started. I didn't have many set plans, but I can say that Ino and Sakura sharing a kiss was never going to be one of them. If I do make a harem it would probably be Sakura, Ino, and the Kyuubi. Possibly Tsume as well, but that's because my plan for the Inuzuka clan lets it remain a possibility.

I suppose I could hold that to a vote. Who wants Tsume? Raise your hand please. Or leave it in a review. I'm not choosey. I'm also very open to suggestions. If there is enough support for one person I never mentioned I can't see any reason why I couldn't accommodate. I mean I haven't even introduced Hinata yet, which I will do soon enough.

Bee tee dubya I think my next chapter will arrive sooner than this last one. I actually kind of know what I want to write for once haha.