A/n: Well, here is the next chapter of the story, hope you like it. I probably won't update soon because of one of my uncles dying on Thanksgiving. Now, what are the odds of that happening? Anyway, enough of me rambling, on to the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there is a high chance that Naruto would be gay and be with Sasuke. Or, with Ino…it'll most likely be Sasuke though.
Chapter 6: Life of a Genin
"Ino-sama, let's begin." Aki said and the other two council members moved away--- making room for what Aki was going to do. Ino nodded in agreement and focused her attention on her.

"Since you are still a child, you have much to learn about being a mistress. Normally, it takes at least several years to learn all there is to know and be prepared. You, however, do not have that luxury. Midoriko-sama is slowly dying with the cycle of the seasons and you need to be ready for when the time comes."

"How long did it take Midoriko-sama to be prepared?"

"Twelve years." Gentou answered for Ino and she gasped. She had to learn everything in 5 years?

"Actually, Midoriko has been training waay longer than that. Not only did she train to maintain the seasons of the human realm she has been training as a miko as well!" Kyouka smiled at Ino who had a slightly confused look. Aki sighed in annoyance.

"There are three realms that are in existence: the human realm, the demon realm, and the celestial realm. Each realm has its own ruler to maintain their realm and all three rulers keep check over one another. Though at the moment, the leader of the human realm has vanished; which caused a shift in power and unbalanced the realms."

"Normally the celestial realm leader, the Mistress of Seasons, is trained as a miko in order to fight off those who dwell in the demon realms. The overlord of the demon realm can be trained in order to watch over the human realm and make sure that no humans try to gain too much power. The human realm leader—the Sage of the Six Paths has the ability to not only seal away the most powerful of demons, he can if he wants disrupt the mistress choices."

"But Gentou-kun, that doesn't make sense, it seems like the Sage of Six Paths has way too much power."

"Ino-sama, you must remember that no one is omnipotent in theses realms. You should also know that the more powerful one is, the higher the consequences for possessing that power. Because the Sage has so much power, in order to access this power, he must sacrifice his life energy every time. The more chakra he uses, the more life energy he sacrifice until eventually, he dies."

"But, it seems that in the last five decades, the Sage of the Six Path has vanished—no one knows where to and what for. Because of this, the overlord can invade the human realm when ever he pleases. And even though the mistress is able to kill him off since she possesses the holy power to do so, she cannot because she is sick. Though not many humans are aware of this threat, they have seen demons in this world. You humans call them bijuus.

"Some of them are good while the others are evil. So those who are good works with us as guardians of the celestial realm. You have Shukaku the one tailed sand tanuki, Nibi the two tailed nekomata, Sanbi, the three tailed turtle, Yonbi the four-tailed weasel, Gobi the five tailed dog, Rokubi, the six tailed falcon, Shichibi, the seven tailed phoenix, Hachibi, the eight headed snake, and Kyuubi the nine tailed fox and the strongest of them all. The ones that are the guardians are Gobi, Shichibi, and Kyuubi…Well, just Gobi and Shichibi. Kyuubi became crazed with power and dropped his status as guardian. "

Kyouka paused as she let Ino absorb the information. After a couple of seconds, Aki picked off from where she left off.

"In the past fifty years, one by one, the evil bijuus were released into this realm. They were ordered to destroy everything in their paths and we were dispatched to fight them off to protect this realm. Out of the nine, seven has been dispatched to the human realm: Shukaku, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Rokubi, Shichibi, and Kyuubi. Out of these, three has been sealed and the other four are roaming."

"So Naruto-kun possess a guardian turned evil…"

"Yes and I am surprised to see how well the seal held up for this long. Since he is the strongest, he has gone insane with power; I would've thought his blood lust would've tempted Naruto-kun on many occasion…given the way that he was treated in the Village." Gentou noted the flash of anger in Kyouka before it promptly disappeared.

"Well, enough of the history lesson. Aki-chan is going to introduce you to the kisetsu no mai." Aki adjusted her glasses and begins to explain.

"The Kisetsu no mai, or the Dance of Seasons, is going to be your way of fighting from now on. It is broken up into four parts: aki no mai, fuyu no mai, haru no mai and natsu no maiEach dance is different and reflects the element it corresponds with. As you know, the elements are as followed: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, and Lightning. Also, with each dance, there is a corresponding weapon that is used. Since I am training you first, you will learn the aki no mai. The dance focuses on using your enemy's offense as your own and having the best defense. You will also learn several doton jutsus and use a Bo as your weapon."

"A bo?"

"Until I deem you ready for it, you will not receive this weapon. So don't worry about it. Now, your first task is to increase your defense. After I am through speaking, I will begin throwing kunais at you—"

"What!!?? Isn't that dangerous!?"

"Of course it is. How do you expect to learn if I throw rocks at you? When you encounter enemies as you take on missions, do you think enemies will throw rocks at you? They will try to kill you at any moment. I am going to prepare you for that. Now get ready." Just as she promised, as soon as she finished speaking, Aki leaped back and brandished a kunai. As her feet brushed the ground, she threw it at the startled Ino. Not knowing what to do, she dropped to the ground.

"That isn't a wise idea Ino-sama. Enemies won't wait for you. Get up." Aki threw another kunai and Ino pushed herself off the ground to dodge the projectile aimed at her head. As she steadied herself another two kunais flew at her. She was able to dodge the first one and the second one dug into her shoulder.

"Ahh!!"

"Get use to the pain. With the way things look, you'll be receiving a lot of it." Ino gritted her teeth and sharply pulled the blade out. She hissed and tossed the offended weapon away.

"When you see free weapons, do not discard them. Use them for your own benefits." Aki scolded and started running towards Ino. She threw another kunai and Ino dodged it but was kicked in the face hard. Ino flew back a couple of feet and skidded to a stop. She laid there clutching her nose.

"You are to be our mistress. You have to be strong! Start fighting back! Get up!" Aki yelled at Ino as she watched the girl struggle to get up. Kyouka looked on in horror.

"Aki-chan stop it! You are being too harsh on Ino-chan!"

"Kyouka, I am training her. She is to follow myrules. If she cannot handle my training, then she doesn't deserve to be acknowledged as the new Mistress."

"I do deserve this. I'm not giving up!" Ino growled as she wiped her bloody nose. Aki scoffed and stared coldly at Ino, silently scrutinizing the girl.

"Then prove it." With a battle cry, Ino rushed forward.


It was past midnight when Ino was allowed to leave for her house. Her clothes were ripped in several places, her bandages were stained red, she had a bruise on her face and she was walking with a limp. When Kyouka offered to heal Ino, Aki told her to only heal the major wounds. Everything else was left alone as a way to remind Ino that she was in for hell.

"Damn bitch…trying to kill me and ruining my good looks and not even healing my fucking wounds…I can't fucking believe this!! She ruined my face with her damn heels! Who the fuck fights with heels on!? Stupid bitch, I hate her!" As Ino muttered to herself, she winced slightly in pain.

"Ino-chan? What are you doing out her so late?" Said girl turned around and saw Naruto standing there.

"What the hell happened to you Ino-chan!?"

"I was getting trained by an evil bitch that's what happened." Ino retorted as she continued to walk towards her house. Naruto silently followed behind her.

"How was the training?"

"I call that torture. She fucked up my face!!" Naruto sweat dropped and rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled. Ino ignored him and kept in limping. She felt extremely tired and all she wanted to do was sleep.

"Do you need help Ino-chan?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Shut up Naruto! I am fine—ahh!" Ino let out a small scream as she tripped and began falling to the ground. Before she touched it, however, a pair of arms caught her. She looked up into sparkling blue eyes.

"What happened to not needing my help?" Naruto asked as he pulled her into his chest. She didn't reply because she was too busy thinking about her predicament. She was in the arms of Naruto and she realized that he smelled nice.

'He is warm…and he smells woodsy.'

"Ino-chan, are you listening to me?" Startled, she looked up and slightly blushed when she realized how close they were. She 'eeped' and pushed out of his arm. Naruto just looked confused and she turned around so he didn't see her red face.

'I can't believe it! I was to busy smelling him to realize that he was talking to me!'

"Ino-chan! Stop ignoring me!" The boy whined and sighed in annoyance when he saw her glazed aquamarine eyes.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you wanted me to walk you home." Ino stared at him before walking away.

"H-hey! What's that suppose to mean!? Ino-chan, you're so mean!" Naruto pouted and watched as Ino stopped and looked back at him with a small smile that made him slightly blush.

"Come on then Naruto-kun. You can walk with me to my house. I'm tired and want to go to bed." She continued limping leaving a slightly smiling Naruto behind. He looked at the retreating form for a few more seconds and then ran to catch up. The two then continued at a leisurely pace as they talked about nothing in particular. Soon, they were standing in front of Ino's flower shop.

"Thanks again Naruto-kun. If I was left by myself, I'd probably fall asleep on the street. Thanks for keeping me awake and walking me home."

"No problem Ino-chan, it's what friends do."

"Now only if you can be this nice to Sasuke-kun."

"Why the hell should I?"

"Because he's lonely Naruto-kun…like you are." Naruto looked shocked as Ino spoke. She leaned her back on her front door and sighed. Naruto waited for her to explain her thoughts.

"To me, all people are flowers. And like all flowers, they have to be nurtured properly in order to bloom."

"By giving them food and water?" Ino giggled slightly and Naruto became flustered.

"No silly. I mean by giving them love and companionship. Remember Naruto-kun, we are talking about people here, not actually flowers."

"I knew that!"

"Anyway, what I meant to say is that because Sasuke-kun is the only Uchiha left, he is lonely. And because he doesn't have anyone to love or be friends with, he is slowly withering away. You too. As long as I remember, you have been alone too. You were always scorned by the villagers. I remember in the academy when we first started, you were by yourself. When our parents came to pick us up, you would shy away and disappear. You were slowly withering away too. But as time passed, you made friends and you began to bloom again.

"It is different with Sasuke-kun. When we were young, he was at full bloom. Even when he didn't show it, he was happy. Then his clan was massacred and he began to wither. And I want to help him and you too. I want to be both of your friends so that you are nurtured and bloom properly."

"But what if he doesn't want to be friends?"

"He will. No matter how stubborn he is, I'm gonna make him my friend. You will try too, right?" Naruto looked away for a moment. He didn't want to believe what Ino had said but he knew it was true. He hated realizing that he was lonely. He hated knowing that he was similar to Sasuke-teme, but couldn't help but feel a little happy in knowing that someone else knew what it felt like to go home to a dark house everyday.

"Look who's not paying attention now."

"Eh? Oh! I'm sorry Ino-chan!"

"No that's okay; I gave you a lot to think about. Well, I'm heading in okay?"

"Okay, see you tomorrow then."

"Good night Naruto-kun."

"Night Ino-chan." With that, Ino turned around and unlocked her door. She looked one more time at Naruto before entering the house and closing the door. Naruto sighed and walked away to his own house.


"He's late again!!" A loud voice echoed as the sun rose in the village of Konoha. Three genins were sitting once again in Training Ground 7 as they waited for their new sensei. Naruto growled as he thought about his sensei and Sasuke sat their brooding. Ino, on the other hand was dozing off lightly; her training from yesterday still taking a toll on her. Because her outfit was destroyed yesterday, she decided to wear a lavender tank top with bandages on both arms and black shorts that ended at her mid thighs. She had on black ninja sandals and had her hair in a high ponytail.

Of course, she still had some of her wounds from yesterday but at least the bruise wasn't there anymore. That was the worst wound she received by far.

"Good morning everyone! Sorry I'm late; I had to rescue a cat from a bag. Then I had to find its owner. Turns out that it didn't have one so I kept him myself." His student's just stared at him and he smiled back.

"What kind of bullshit is that?" Naruto asked.

"That doesn't make up for the fact that you were 3 hours late!!" Ino yelled in frustration and the boys rubbed their ears to make sure there was no damage.

"So I am. Now, it's time for us to get our first mission as a team. Aren't you happy?" The two blondes smiled in glee and Sasuke smirked.

"Come let's go!" Naruto exclaimed and began to run towards the Hokage building. The rest of his team followed. As they walked, Kakashi silently observed Ino from behind his book.

'She seems to have gotten injured yesterday… by whom? And where is her rabbit?' He looked up from his book as did everyone else in the vicinity when they heard someone yelling up ahead.

"YOU FUCKING PERVERT!!!!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!"

"KYOUKA-CHAN I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Kyouka-chan?" Ino ran to the scene where she was greeted with a funny sight: Kyouka was straddling a purple haired man and choking him while cursing him. The man was turning blue from the lack of air and trying to talk the woman into letting him go.

"Kyouka-chan, what are you doing?"

"Ino-chan? What are you doing here?" The woman looked up from her position and smiled at Ino. She then noticed that there was a huge crowd surrounding her. She blushed and got up and dusted herself off.

"I'm going to the Hokage tower. What about you? And who is that?" Kyouka looked down at the man and growled.

"That is Haru, the governor of Spring." As soon as he heard his name, Haru hopped up and grabbed Ino's hand.

"It is such a pleasure to meet this fine, sexy woman in front of me. Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Ino removed her hand from him and just looked at him. Haru blinked and smiled.

"Oh I see! You are so shocked to see my handsome visage that you can't speak! Milady, come into my arms so I can comfort you and feel thy soft bosom on my chest!!"

"What!!?" Ino screeched and slammed her fist into his head.

"Itai! Such a fiery vixen…" Haru winced as he stood up and rubbed his head. Ino took that time to examine the purple headed pervert. He was wearing a white silk shirt with a purple kimono vest and black silk pants with black ninja sandals. He had three silver studs in his right ear and a beautifully carved amethyst earring in his left. His purple eyes were currently clouded with pain and his hair went down to his mid back. To Ino, it didn't look like he was a ninja at all.

"Hey Ino-chan, let's go get our mission! Let Midget-chan handle this guy."

"You fucking urchin-headed idiot!! What you called me?" Kyouka didn't even give him a chance before she punched him knocking him to the ground.

"Excuse me miss, I'd appreciate if you didn't knock one of my students out before they go to their mission." Kakashi finally decided to intervene after watching the scene. After all they were running late and he did promise to be there three hours ago. Kyouka glared at Kakashi and instantly stopped. A light blush dusted her cheeks and she turned away quickly.

"I'm sorry…who are you?"

"I'm Team seven's sensei, Hatake Kakashi. And you?" Kakashi extended his hand to the girl who blushed again.

"Kyouka…" As they shook, Naruto, Haru, and Ino just stared in shock.

'What happened to her anger?' They all thought.

"Right, let's go get that mission kiddies. Would you care to join us Kyouka-chan?"

"I'd love to." Kyouka smiled and followed Kakashi as he began to walk again. Sasuke followed quickly followed by Ino, Naruto, and a pouting Haru.

'She never was this shy and nice around me! Damn that Kakashi!'

Said person just sneezed.


"What kind of mission is this!?"

"Stop complaining dobe and keep painting."

"Don't call me that teme!"

"I can call you whatever I want to baka."

"You stuck up son of a---"

"Naruto, shut up!"

"He started it!"

"No I didn't you idiot."

"Yes you did bastard!"

"Usuratonkachi!"

"Teme!"

"Dobe!" Ino growled as she watched the two boys throw insults at each other. They were doing their first mission as a genin which was to paint a civilian's house. Of course she wasn't happy with this but add in a lazy Jounin who was sitting nearby talking to one of her council members instead of helping and you got an irritated Ino.

"Shut the hell up!!" And an irritated Ino equals pain to those around her.

"Now, now Ino-chan. No violence. Get back to work so we can get another D rank mission." Kakashi said as he looked up from his conversation with Kyouka to his team.

"Do you have to take your anger out on us?" Naruto whined as he and Sasuke clenched their head in pain.

"Yes I do! You want to keep complaining?" The two boys looked at each other and slowly shook their heads.

"Good." Ino huffed and went back to work.

"She's scary."

"For once, you're right dobe."


A/n: That is the end of that chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Not much happening here; just a lot of explanations and a little romance and humor. I'll try to update the next chapter later. I hope to get more reviews, but just the fact that a lot of people added this story to their favorites is nice to know because that shows that you all liked it.