Arthor's Note:
To those that are upset that my first chapter was short, I mearly didn't want to bog down such an important part of the story with the meaningless filler of Naruto's change of look. I also didn't want to have too many big changes to the flow of ripples. My first few chapters are going to have major effects, and some of my points and changes to the cannon might have huge debates started.
I will give you an example of a huge point that might leave you debating. I do not believe that Kyubbi is in Naruto's mindscape. The sewer is more likely to be Naruto's chakra network as his mind proceives it, and it is clearly messed up by a second seal over the bujin seal. It was mentioned in cannon that they strenghtened Minato's seal before.
Another thing I will make clear, so I don't have to see it in the Reviews, Naruto is a pheonix of sorts. He will take everything thrown at him as a valuable training. For example, shops won't sell weapons to him so he learned how to be a blacksmith and to make his own seals.
Finally, I will write alot of the story as a slow fuse. Don't give me a review that says something to the extent of If I were Ino it wouldn't take me that long to go on a date with him. Everything must be filtered through "I like him, but should i stay the course to get Sasuke." etc. Fast in, fast out is something I want to avoid.
Standard Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto or anyone of it's characters. All rights to said characters belong to their copyright holder, and as such i earn no money or services for my fan fiction.
Chapter Two: Flowers and Threats
Naruto had to figure out what his new look should be. He toyed with the idea of having Anko pick out his outfit as he liked her fashion sense, but wasn't sure he wanted to be man candy just yet. He could ask Sakura, but he wasn't sure her fashion sense had anything more to it then pink with petals. As for Ino, he wasn't sure if he could take her turning him down.
Naruto merely let his feet do the walking as he started to day dream about Ino. He had to admit she was cute and hot in the right ways, but it was the side of her very few saw that really made him fall for her. Hell, she worked in a flower shop, and his favorite way of calming down after a day dealing with Sasuke was gardening.
"Oh, hell." Naruto said softly as his musing about Ino had got his feet to bring him right to said dreamy goddess's parents flower shop.
Naruto took a deep breath and stepped in. He decided to trust his feet and hope his manhood forgot the rest of his thoughts. With a heavy sigh he looked at his goddess, summoned up all his courage, and spoke.
"Hey Ino. I was wondering if you could do me a big favor." Naruto asked softly.
Saying Ino was tooken back was an understatement. At first, she wondered if he wanted tips on defeating her Sasuke, but she dismissed that as she knew he was too proud for that. Secondly, she wondered if this favor was inside knowledge on his crush Sakura, but she dismissed this too as he never asked for advice on that before. Finally, she was just confused. If he ever actually spoke to her directly then this would be the first time.
"Depends on the favor." Ino replied cautiously.
"Well your beautiful, and have a great sense of style. You clearly know how to pick out clothes, and other stuff..." Naruto rambled. "So could you please give me a make over."
Naruto was waiting for the drop dead that he got from Sakura. He tried bracing with everything he had for her laughing at him. He never thought he would get a favorable answer, but the world seemed to like messing with him.
"Naruto, I am sorry, but I can't right now. I don't get off till almost four. You have to come back then." Ino answered him.
Naruto mind had slowed down when she was telling him no. It took him minutes to process that it was a later not a rejection. He hung his head until his mind fully caught up and then Ino was the next to be treated with the almost unheard of real smile of Naruto's.
"Seriously, Naruto did you some how just win the Konoha lottery! Your goofy grin is one thing, but that smile is something else." Ino teased, but inside thought 'Why do i get the feeling that smile will break some hearts.'
"Thank you, Ino-chan! I promise any food you want, and you can get some outfits for yourself on my tab." Naruto told her quickly. "I will be back at four on the dot."
Naruto pulled out his wallet, and put down enough for a dozen roses. He quickly ordered them and told her to put them into water. As soon as Ino confirmed what he had ordered, he just turned and walked out.
Ino's mother just laughed form her position watching this. She stepped out of the back and giggled. It was time for a mother's teasing.
"Ino did you just get a date and a dozen roses right infornt of your mother?" Ina asked her daughter.
Ino had no sooner worked out that her mother could indeed be right. She mumbled something about tricky boys, blushed, and suddenly had to water flowers out back. Ino had never thought about Naruto as a boyfriend. She had more then once thought of the options of konoha for a boyfriend. Yes she wanted Sasuke, but why had she never considered Naruto?
Ino would end up pondering about Naruto the rest of the day til four. He had done something that no other guy had done to her. He was a complete mystery other then his pranks and clowning around, and Ino wasn't the type to leave a mystery unsolved.
After Naruto got the surprising date from Ino, he set to improve his chances to protect and win her. He discretely sent a letter to the Third demanding Kurenai to be his squad leader and having Sakura Hurano and Ino Yamanka as cell mates. Now, he wasn't stupid, and he gave the Third very good reasons for accepting his demand. If he didn't get what he wanted, a certain snake mistress would find out about his crystal ball, and she would undoubtly make sure it was common knowledge among the women of Konoha. He also promised a solution to his paperwork problem if that wasn't enough, but that was only payable if he got what he wanted. He, of course, need the Old Man to read it so he intercepted the latest makeout tactics heading to the Old Man and slipped the letter into it.
Naruto spent the rest of the time til the date looking through his clothes. He finally found some regular clothes. It was nothing more then his blue sleeveless shirt, and a pair of black slacks that were totally useless on a mission. Then came what took him the most time, he actually brushed out is long pinned up hair into a pony tail. It took three hours and alot of cursing but he had made himself half way decent for the date. He was tired of being his father's clone anyway, and with that he ended his hinge so goodbye whiskers.
Naruto mused about dyeing his hair to match Sasuke, but he dismissed it as he wanted Ino to like him for him not some Sasuke clone. So he decided to bring a special flower with him. He hoped she would like the fact he left the seeds in the flower. Finally to calm his nerves with some meditation.
Naruto felt himself slowly decend into the sewers. He sighed that meant the Kyuubi wanted to talk. He carefully made one of his shadow clones to study the seal as he meditated.
"Yo, old friend." Naruto called out as he stood infornt of the barrier between him and his guess's powers.
"It took you long enough to come see me Kit. What kept you away this time? Don't tell me you wrote another one of those romance novels. If you got to do half of those things to your would be vixen, you would have revived the Namikaze clan in no time!" Kyuubi teased his host.
"Nothing so time consuming. I am working on my projects, and refining my personal jutsus. Oh, interesting news! I found my father's move scroll. I understand the seal of the shikigami now, so i maybe able to fix this sewer into something useful." Naruto told his guest.
Naruto knew it was a sore spot with the Kyuubi. She didn't like being sealed in the first place, but to be useless to the kit of her former host, was unbearable for her. Kushina may have not conceived the kit with her, but her power had leaked into the boy during his birth. This in no way made Naruto a demon, but Mita had choosen Kushina to be the next host for this fact. Now Naruto was the prefect host.
Worst yet the tampering with Minato's seal had robbed Naruto of power other bujin host enjoyed, and if it wasn't for Naruto's healing abilities using Kyuubi's power would kill the boy. She was in no mood for his host to die as Naruto had quicker then any other host befriended the fox. For a monkey and sinner, the Kyuubi had to admit she saw Naruto as her own.
Kyuubi may have been a being of pure energy, but having had all female hosts until Naruto had made her for a lack of better term female. It was this very fact that had her recounting hoshirama's woing of Mita and Minato's slow courting of the unattainable Kushina. It was also these many recounted romances that gave birth to Naruto's sole source of money.
If Konoha men were addicted to Jairya's smut, then the Konoha women were addicted to Naruto or rather "Kit Kitsume's" romances. Naruto used alot of that money to research and create his own weapons, new seals, and various other projects.
For Naruto, money to live on was no where near his reason to become a ninja. He could live on the books easily, but he wanted to protect his home. It was the senju in him he guessed after all his grandfather Hoshirama had founded this place. His mother had defended it with her life as a princess of Konoha. Konoha was part of Naruto, and that was the only reason that he didn't simply leave because of the villagers.
"You are lost in thought again, Kit." Kyuubi called out to him, but got distracted as the bars disappeared.
Kyuubi looked around as Naruto's tranquel chakra was restored. No longer was it a sewer, but she was back in the temple. Naruto's mental, physical, and spirital energies once again flowing into the lake that surrounded the temple. She could now drink of her host again and grow strong once more or give her power to him. He would soon have to learn to use her power, but that could wait.
"It looks like my clone has undone the Old Man's bastard seals damage. I have my massive reserves and chakra control back it seems. It still leaves me with the problem I have always had." Naruto sighed out.
"All that power and nothing to use it on!" Kyuubi roar out with laughter.
"It's hardly funny, Kyu. All my technics bloodline or not are barely controlable. Learned Muy Tai, but that only helps in close combat. At medium range, I have throwing weapons, but I am still dead at long range." Naruto sighed.
"You have your sins for long range, Kit." Kyuubi reminded him.
"Oh yeah my sins. They are powerful enough to wipe out a village or save a village, but need I remind you that they take alot of power. I don't see how they are even useful in 99% of my would be missions. Finally, I can only use one at a time, and they even take time to form." Naruto barked out. " I might as well shift into your form then call out sword dancer. It would take less time and most likely be less taxing on my emotional Health. Do remember it is a Wrath type of Sin. Don't get me started on the dreamer. It can negate what i don't like, but only if it happens while the dreamer is summoned. The side effect is even worse! It is a slough type sin. The rest of the day up to week i would make the Nara look like speed freaks. NO THANK YOU! My father's sin is worse then both of them! The Shikigami requires a capture technic to even use. It may slowly 'eat' the life energies of my defeated enemy, but in the mean time i lose the amout of Chakra it will take to supress thiers. I went over the top with them and I made them almost useless in anything other then destroying a village or saving Konoha."
"Then make better sins, Kit." Kyu responded as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
"Honestly Kyu. Where am I going to get a body everytime I want to make a new sin? Then comes the planning of what i want it to do. Next comes the rituals and sealing of the abilities one by one into the body and contract. Finally, I have to manfest it very very slowly to fill it with the energy it needs to form for the first time. Do I have to remind you that each sin I create shortens my Natural life!" Naruto told Kyu starting to lose this temper. " I can only use spiritual energy so much to replace that lost life energy!"
Naruto had enough debating with Kyu so he simply left his meditation. The clone removing the 'enhancements' to his seal may have freed up his chakra and made it easier to use, but that still meant retraining is body to actually use it. Although, he loved to feeling of his chakra flowing freely like had it's little give and takes.
The free flow of energy meant that he could now use genjutsu and the more subtle arts if he knew any of them that is. That is exactly why he wanted Kurenai. Sakura, Ino, and Himself could use Genjutsu in there jutsu bank.
Naruto was broken free of his musings by the alarm he had set and ran out his apartment. He wasn't going to be late on his date with Ino even if she didn't consider it one. He hoped his temperary look didn't turn Ino away.
Arthor's Note: I am not exactly good with dates etc, but bare with me. I may end up combining this chapter with the next. This chapter has already been changed to get rid of certain filler. Those of you that read the origional chapter 2, I am sorry if you really liked it, but it had issues that had to be removed.
I went way more in detail then I wanted about sins, but I felt I had to make you the readers understand they are aces in the hole not something he can use all the time. I even defended partly why i wanted the team. Yes Naruto still wants to protect Sakura, and he wants all the chances he can get to win Ino.
To Ino and Sakura fans: I will work on bridging the gap that fighting over the same boy put in there friendship. I am not sure that I will have Ino share Naruto with Sakura, but I won't have Ino x Sakura without a good reason either.
To those who want a harem: I am still not sure I want to do a harem. Even if I do one it will require no more then three girls including Ino. Alot of the girls, I might use are a logicistial problem. Temari, for example, either Ino and Naruto would have to defect to Suna or Temari to leaf.