"So this is your place, eh?" Naruto asked as she stepped into Ino's apartment. The first thing she noticed was a small brown couch, big enough for just two people sitting in the middle of the wide living room. She frowned at it. Her eyes moved on, scanning the rest of the room: a regular tv, a desk against the end wall, a sliding glass doorway beside it, leading to the outside deck. There were three more doors, and Naruto assumed one lead to the kitchen, one to the bedroom, and the other was likely the bathroom. There were pictures of her parents on the wall, and some of Shikamaru and Choji.
"It's cozy," she concluded.
"Thanks," Ino muttered sarcastically and stepped past Naruto. He pulled Atsuta off his back and leaned it against the wall.
Naruto shut the door behind her. "What can I change into?" she asked as she followed Ino into the bedroom.
Stopping and turning, Ino blocked Naruto's way, and raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about changing?"
"I just did," Naruto replied and looked at Ino in confusion. "Who else would say anything? It's only us here."
Ino rubbed his forehead and sighed. "That's not what I-you know what, forget about it. Just go and sleep on the couch," he ordered and pointed at said furniture.
"I don't want to sleep in this," Naruto countered, motioning to Ino's typical outfit. "Don't you have some boxers I could wear? I'm used to just sleeping in boxers," she explained.
Ino stared at her blankly, and he paused for a moment. "You plan. . . on sleeping in just boxers?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Naruto replied and blinked at Ino's expression.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no!" Ino exclaimed. "I'm not letting you sleep like that! No way!"
"What's wrong with the way I sleep!" Naruto retorted, crossing her arms. She raised a slim eyebrow questioningly.
"I don't want YOU sleeping half nude in MY body!" Ino exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It's just. . . wrong! Keep my clothes on!"
Naruto rubbed her chin. "Keep your clothes on, or keep my clothes on?"
Ino blinked. "What?"
Naruto blinked. "What?"
Shaking his head, Ino turned toward his bedroom. "Just stay right there, and don't touch anything."
"Yeah, yeah. . . I won't touch anything," Naruto muttered, rolling her eyes.
"ANYTHING," Ino restated and eyed his old body pointedly.
Naruto glanced at him innocently. "What? I wouldn't dream of it!" she replied and smiled naively, holding her hands away at her sides.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Kishimoto. If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this fic.
"So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don't sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late."
- Lee Iacocca
A Mind Bending Inconvenience
A Naruto Story
By Hawk
A/N: This fic takes place after the Naruto series, after Akatsuki has been defeated, and Sasuke is back in Konoha. Characters that aren't dead in the Manga at Chapter 356 (when I started this) may or may not appear in this fic, even if they die in the very next chapter. The Rookie Nine are all in their early 20's in this fic. Thank you for your time and your reviews, they mean a lot. Has been updated to current events in the manga, people dead and what not.
Thanks kindly to Corwin, my far away friend, for helping again. Your input and corrections are greatly appreciated.
Chapter 3 - 'The Training Begins' or 'We're Totally Screwed'
Ino hurried into his room and out of sight, leaving Naruto to her own devices. The body-swapped man moved to the couch and frowned at it. Eyeballing Ino's bedroom door, she kicked the brown piece of furniture firmly. "That's what I think of sleeping on you," she muttered to the couch which didn't give her a reply.
As he reentered the room, Ino's hands clutched a long white t-shirt and a pair of old plaid boxers. He walked up to Naruto and shoved the clothing at her. "You can use these for tonight," he stated.
"And what about you, huh? What're you gonna be sleeping in?" Naruto asked, shirt and boxers hanging from her hands.
Ino shrugged. "Shirt and underwear," he replied simply. "I won't see anything of yours that way, all right?"
Naruto 'hmph'ed and looked away. "Fine, fine, whatever," she mumbled and headed to the bathroom.
Ino moved to follow, trailing Naruto's steps. He stopped as Naruto did, and the small girl turned on him, eyeing him incredulously.
"Where are you going?" Naruto asked suspiciously as she stood in the doorway to the bathroom.
"In there with you," Ino replied.
"Look, you watching me change would be too weird," Naruto explained uneasily.
"It's not like you have anything I haven't seen before," Ino countered and leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door.
"Yeah, but it's still weird and wrong!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'd feel violated or something," she added and covered her chest protectively.
"Are you kidding me?" Ino mumbled and ran an exasperated hand over his face.
"Wouldn't you feel weird if I watched you undress in that body with this body?" Naruto asked and frowned.
Ino paused at the suggestion, imagining undressing and being watched by herself. It was unnerving to think about and he sighed. "Go change in the bathroom. I'm giving you 2 minutes and that's it," he bargained.
"But I want time to look at your breasts!" Naruto whined and pouted.
"Look at my breasts, you say?" Ino drawled, raising an eyebrow dangerously.
"No," Naruto replied.
"I could've sworn that's what you said," Ino countered, his eyes narrowing, and Naruto suddenly knew just how frightening his glare could be.
"All right, jeez, I didn't get a chance earlier when I was going to the bathroom," Naruto explained guiltily. "I was too busy trying to figure out what to do."
"I think you've seen enough then," Ino growled and palmed Naruto's face with his hand before forcing the girl into the bathroom. "You have one minute."
Naruto grumbled as the bathroom door slammed behind her. She glanced at the clothes in her hands, long white t-shirt and green boxers, before dropping them to the floor. Her pale eyes spied the door in the mirror's reflection, and she hurriedly went about undoing the belt and ties on her pants. They slid from her thighs and down to her ankles. She once again had the chance to marvel at the shapeliness and creamy skin color of Ino Yamanaka's legs.
"You have nice legs, Ino!" Naruto exclaimed and stretched out her leg to get a better look.
"30 seconds," Ino called back, through the door, impatiently.
"That's not enough time!" Naruto shouted and tripped over the pants around her ankles. She pulled them off, followed by her top, leaving her in nothing but her panties and bra. The long t-shirt was yanked over her head, backwards, and she quickly righted it.
The door opened and Ino stuck his head in, cerulean eyes finding Naruto immediately. "You done?"
"Still wearing bra and panties," Naruto muttered, embarrassed. Her cheeks suddenly burn at the thought of Ino's body in what she'd just said. She shook her head at the thought. Sure, Ino had an amazing body, beautiful face and stunning eyes, but the baggage and personality that came with it made her a total turn off to Naruto. She had never found herself that attracted to Ino because of it. Maybe it was because she was seeing Ino's body from a whole other perspective.
Ino sighed and entered the room. "Well get up," he ordered and Naruto did as told, the long shirt falling close to her knees.
"Whose shirt is this?" she asked, looking down at it, and the nice amount of cleavage it revealed.
"None of your business," Ino grumbled and handed Naruto the boxers.
"Well it's way too long to be yours, and I doubt Sai gave it to you," Naruto continued as she pulled off her panties from under the shirt. She slipped the boxers on swiftly, never once revealing herself.
"Don't worry about it," Ino muttered but nodded in approval at Naruto's display of changing. She was even more impressed when the bra fell from underneath the shirt and to the floor.
Naruto grinned. "Experience," she said and shrugged.
Ino shook his head. "You pervert."
If Naruto heard the comment, she paid no mind, shrugging her shoulders rapidly. She smiled gleefully as her breasts bounced freely up and down beneath the loose shirt. "I feel so free!"
Ino grabbed Naruto's shoulders, halting her bouncing. "No more of that."
"You don't let me have any fun."
"Not with my body."
"What about Sakura's?" Naruto asked, and her eyes glazed over from the thought of making out with Sakura while in Ino's body.
Ino restrained himself from smacking Naruto upside the head. For some reason he was okay with Naruto having that vision. There was something flattering, in a perverted sense, about Naruto involving his real body in a fantasy. He shook his head nonetheless.
"Pervert."
"You're one to talk after everything we just went through." Naruto rolled her eyes. "I'm so glad your mom and dad have BOTH seen my boner."
Ino grimaced. "We need to set up some ground rules."
"Do you mean put down ground rules? Wait, do you set up ground rules or do you put down ground rules?"
"I don't . . . you set-" Ino froze, unsure. "You. . . set them up."
"But you're putting them down on the ground, right? So wouldn't you put down ground rules?" Naruto countered, just as uncertain.
Shaking his head in annoyance, Ino raised a hand to silence Naruto. "Look, okay, we need ground rules."
"Fair enough," Naruto agreed readily.
"First: no touching of anything that doesn't need to be touched at times it doesn't need to be touched."
"Why you gotta say it so weirdly? Just say, no body touching unless necessary."
"Whatever. But that means, no touching my body outside of the shower or bathing, and even then, keep it at the minimum."
"Same goes for you. No feeling up my junk."
"I gotta grab it when I take a piss."
"Or you can sit down like you did the first time, you weirdo."
"Second rule: No showering for as long as we can. If we can change back before that's necessary, then that's what we'll do. With the minimum body touching for cleaning purposes if the time comes."
"Fine by me," Naruto consented, though there was some clear disappointment in her reply.
"Finally: no masturbation," Ino asserted firmly.
"I mean. . . of course, that makes sense. And, we should be able to last, right? We're two . . . adults."
"Totally, we're not some dumb, horny teenagers."
"Exactly, we have self control. We'll be fine," Ino agreed.
"Absolutely," Naruto confirmed with a firm nod. She raised her hands in surrender. "Besides, once I take a dump in your body, the magic's gone."
Ino couldn't help but chuckle, and Naruto giggled along. "You're right about that, Naruto."
"Yeah, and if I get diarrhea. . . woof, you'll never be sexy to me again."
". . . idiot."
Her eyes snapped open and she grunted, a dull ache in her lower back. She couldn't help but wonder why she felt so uncomfortable. Raising a hand to rub her forehead, Naruto groaned louder at the sight of her dainty fingers, realizing that she hadn't just had the weirdest dream in her life.
Sighing, Naruto sat up from the couch, her long shirt having ridden up her body and exposing her midriff. She poked her belly button in despair before sliding her legs off the couch and placing her bare feet on the chilly carpet. Her toes curled into it as she stretched her body gracefully, yawning.
Her shirt unfurled, tumbling to her thighs, and her shoulders slumped. Naruto grimaced as her bare breasts rubbed against the inside of her shirt and her nipples hardened abruptly. Glancing down at them, she raised an eyebrow as they pointed through the clothe. Pale blue eyes scanned the silent apartment quickly and thoroughly before Naruto lifted her shirt, exposing her chest to herself. The man turned woman grinned to herself at the sight of the small, cute nipples.
"Very nice, Ino," Naruto whispered and moved to poke one of the hard nubs. She was never one for following the rules completely. 'I mean, what are ground rules, anyway? Just guidelines if you really think about it, nothing set in stone.'
"Who's there?"
Naruto paused at the sound of her real voice coming from Ino's bedroom. The shirt dropped again, hiding her chest. "I didn't touch!" she declared loudly.
"Where am I?" Ino asked quietly as she wandered down the dark and damp corridor. Loud drops of water fell from the ceiling and echoed throughout the halls. Something's loud breathing responded to her question. She was lost in the strange maze, but she was herself. At least in her dreams she was still female. "Is someone down there?"
"Who is this . . .?" a deep voice, full of death, growled, its question echoing through the halls.
Ino shuddered heavily at the sound, the hairs on her arms rising along with goose bumps. Every bone in her body felt cold then instantly burning hot, like they might start bursting into flame inside her body. She'd felt such a power before, during the Fourth Shinobi War. It was much like Kinkaku's chakra, but so much more. Pushing forward, her she ran her hand over the worn and weathered wall for balance, her legs unsteady beneath her.
"Hey?" another voice called; her own voice, as if out of her body. "Wake up! Now!"
"What?" Ino replied, searching for the speaker. "Where am I?"
"Don't ask questions, just wake up, damnit!" her voice demanded, and she felt herself suddenly shaking.
His eyes snapped open to see his body leaning over him, her pale blue eyes wide with worry. Tired, Ino scanned his real body and exhaled. "Not a dream?" he asked.
"The body switch thing? No," Naruto stated. "The watery corridors? Yes."
Ino paused as he spied the braless cleavage Naruto was revealing in the long t-shirt. "I can't believe I let you wear that to sleep," he muttered and covered his face in embarrassment.
"That's hardly important at this time," Naruto replied and sat on Ino's bed. "Where you were. . . the dark hallways. . . you have to stay away from there."
Licking his lips, Ino exhaled deeply. "That's where he is, isn't it?" he asked blankly, staring at the wall across the room. He slowly met Naruto's beaten and depressed eyes.
"Yes, Kyuubi is down there," Naruto muttered, not using Kurama's given name. "He's always there, uncaged now, and he would not be happy to see you."
Ino laid back down, the bed beneath him creaking from the weight, and stared at the ceiling. "That's why you're always training, isn't it?"
"I have to stay strong, physically and mentally, because of him," she explained. "He and I are on pretty good terms nowadays, after everything we've gone through, but he's still not a fan of strangers, so seeing you instead of me probably wouldn't go over well.
"If I die, he dies, so he'll do everything in his power to keep that from happening. Whether that means pumping me full of his chakra or just tearing out of my body, that's up to him. If he sees that you're in control of my body and mind, that I'm gone, he'll attempt to break out and most likely succeed," Naruto continued. "You have to stay away from him. He can't know you're in control."
Ino sighed. "I didn't know. I mean, I thought, maybe, but. . . That's what it's like . . . It could tear you apart . . ."
"Very easily," Naruto muttered and stood. "Not many people know. Only five now: Tsunade-oba-chan, Sasuke, Sakura, Yamato, and Kakashi."
"Jiraiya?"
"Of course. Kinda hard for them not to know what could happen," Naruto replied with a weak grin. "I imagine most people assume that as well now.
"Every day a bit of his chakra becomes mine. Every day I have to train to support the increase, or it'll tear me apart from the inside. We've already fought once for control and I won, and he accepted me, but if I don't keep up with his chakra entering my body, he'll break out again. When that happens, I doubt he'll be very friendly with the rest of Konoha. He likes some people, but really. . . there's no much love from him outside of me."
Ino sat up. "I need coffee," he groaned. "This is a lot to absorb so early in the morning."
Nodding, Naruto moved for the door. "I'll make you some. How do you take it?"
Surprised, Ino sat for a moment, taking in Naruto's act of kindness. "Uh. . . two cubes of sugar," he muttered. "Thanks. . ."
"No problem," she replied and exited, her hair swishing behind her.
Ino pursed her lips and her eyes narrowed. "Why are your nipples hard?"
Purposefully ignoring Ino's question, Naruto entered the kitchen. She gracefully went about making coffee and grabbed a couple piece of bread, dropping them into the toaster. Eyes closed, Naruto leaned back against the countered, hands resting behind her. After a moment, she went about finding the sugar cubes.
A few minutes later she exited the kitchen, coffee cup in one hand, plate of buttered toast in the other. As Naruto crossed the hallway back to Ino's room, a soft knock came from the front door. Yawning, the t-shirt and boxer clad Naruto padded softly over to the door.
"One second!" Naruto called out. She swiftly and gracefully lifted her smooth leg, unlocking the door with her toes, keeping a firm hold on the coffee cup and plate. "Okay, come in," she announced. The door opened as Naruto turned away.
"Hey, Ino," Shikamaru said as he stepped inside. "Sorry about coming by . . . so . . . early?" he faltered over his words as he stared at Naruto's attire. He gaped stupidly at her long, bare legs and sliver of naked thigh. "Uh . . . um . . ."
Naruto looked back over her shoulder, confused. "Hey, Shikamaru, what's up?" she asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Uh . . . well . . . I came to talk to you about yesterday, but since when do you wear that?" he blurted and pulled at the collar of his shirt, his eyes glanceing around the room, trying to avoid staring at her pointed nipples.
Glancing down at her clothes, Naruto blinked curiously. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It's very comfy," she stated in all honesty.
"Well, I'm uh . . . sure it is," Shikamaru mumbled.
"Who was that at the door?" Ino asked as he entered the room, clad in a white undershirt and black and orange boxers.
"What . . . the . . . fuck?" Shikamaru uttered as he stared at Ino, then Naruto.
Naruto spun around, nearly spilling the coffee. "It's not what you think!"
"Nothing happened!" Ino added frantically.
His eyes traveled back and forth between Naruto and Ino, his massive intelligence failing him for the first time in years. "What is . . . going on!? What the hell, Ino!?"
"Nothing's going on, Shikamaru!" Ino exclaimed, though he wasn't the one Shikamaru was questioning.
"Nothing!" Naruto shouted, feeling handicapped by the cup and plate in her hands. She tried to think fast, not usually Naruto's forte. "Have a piece of toast!" she cried and shoved the plate at Shikamaru's face.
The shadow wielder stepped back as if threatened by the bread. "This is not normal," Shikamaru said, staring at the two, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
"You're telling me," Naruto muttered under her breath, toast still offered.
"I think I'll go," Shikamaru stated.
"Don't go!" Ino cried, reaching out for him, but Shikamaru only gave a strangled look at the gesture. There was something wrong with the sight of Uzumaki Naruto, in only his boxers, acting so desperate toward him.
"I'll let you two be," Shikamaru said and stepped back again, watching Ino cautiously.
Sensing a lost battle, Naruto exclaimed, "Don't tell anyone!"
Both Ino and Shikamaru turned to her, surprised. Ino gaped stupidly and Shikamaru blinked, his brain already processing and analyzing the words and their meaning. Was the outcry an admission to an affair? Was this more than an affair? Were they dating?
"Shikamaru?" Naruto muttered, eyeing the young man questioningly. She waved the plate of toast in front of his face. "I think I fried his brain . . ."
"I won't," the genius said. "I won't tell anyone." And with that, he turned left the switched Naruto and Ino alone once again.
After a moment, Naruto shrugged. "Well, that went pretty well," she said and grinned, smug. She wiped the imaginary sweat from her forehead with the back of her arm.
"'Went pretty well'?" Ino repeated. "'Pretty well', did it!"
Naruto flinched as Ino knocked the plate of toast out of her hand, the food flying across the room. She turned to protect the cup of coffee, lest it was hit next and splashed, scalding, all over her.
"That was horrible!" Ino raged, throwing his hands up. "Shikamaru thinks we've been doing it!"
"It?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of her head.
"SEX!" Ino screamed.
"Oh." Naruto blinked and shrugged again. "He said he wouldn't tell," she retorted feebly.
"Shikamaru's almost as bad as me when it comes to keeping his mouth shut! He's probably off to tell Choji or Temari about us and how troublesome it all is!
"If you weren't in my body, I would kick your ass," Ino finished with a growl. He turned and stormed back into his bedroom, slamming the door.
"Women," Naruto muttered, and she held up the cup of coffee. "So. . . uh. . . do you still want your coffee?"
"I'm going to take a shower!" Ino shouted in return.
"Hey, whoa!" Naruto exclaimed and moved toward Ino's room. "That's full frontal nudity right there! You can't just do that!"
"You going to stop me?"
"If I have to!" Naruto replied and set the cup of coffee down.
"Well you're too late! I'm already naked in here!" Ino proclaimed.
"Ground rules, ground rules!" Naruto screamed, almost girlishly, and rammed her shoulder into the door. She found out it was unlocked when she tumbled through and fell face first to the floor, her breasts smashing beneath her unpleasantly. Exhaling heavily, she looked up, finding a fully clothed Ino, dressed in the clothes he'd worn the day before. He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk.
"Very graceful," Ino taunted.
Laughing wryly, Naruto pushed herself to her feet. "Ha! Ha! That was so funny, Ino," she bit out and rubbed her sore chest.
"You're the one busting in here wanting to see yourself naked," Ino teased.
"I was not!"
"Get dressed. We're going to go out training right away and hopefully have this solved before any shower drama can commence," Ino explained, ignoring Naruto's outburst.
"Fine by me," Naruto grumbled. "What should I wear?"
Ino turned, revealing a purple training outfit laid out on her bed.
Naruto grimaced. "Do you have anything in orange and black?"
A raging headache was coming, and it's cause was Naruto Uzumaki. Rubbing his forehead, Ino sighed. "Try harder! Focus!"
"I am!" Naruto snapped. Her clone nodded in agreement, as frustrated as the original.
"You're whining more than you're trying!" Ino stated harshly. "Now go over the hand signs again!"
Grumbling a few choice words under her breath, Naruto and her sole clone, which appeared as Ino, attempted to mimic the hand signs the real Ino, in Naruto's body, had shown them. The two had poured over the scroll for a number of minutes early that morning, but they still were producing no visible or mental results.
"Damnit!" she swore and pulled at her ponytail in frustration. "Why is this so damn hard!"
"You've gotten too used to training with hundreds of clones," Ino said as he watched Naruto stomp her foot. "You're not going to master this in a matter of hours, let alone minutes."
"Well damnit, I can't stay like this for too long! I need to go on that mission," Naruto replied.
"You may have to give it up," Ino said.
Naruto responded by going through the motions again, this time more fervently.
Ino smiled.
"I'm going to master your stupid Jutsu, switch us back, and go on my mission," she growled.
Ino frowned.
Seven hours later, one lunch of cold sandwiches, much to Naruto's displeasure, and nonstop training had yielded still little results.
"There's something you haven't shown me, or something I missed in the scroll," Naruto muttered and slumped to the ground, beside the Mind-Switch Jutsu scroll. She picked it up and scanned it again.
Ino yawned from where he balanced on his head, legs crossed Indian style over his body. A small bird had perched on his shoe and had stayed for the last couple of minutes. Spooked by its resting spots sudden movement, the bird twittered away. Rolling back to his feet, Ino stepped over to Naruto.
"I've shown you over fifty times already," he grumbled. He'd spent most of his time, under Naruto's fierce instructions, training his body. Every type of push up, sit up, jogging, sprinting, jumping, crawling. Naruto had even made him carry her over his shoulder while she practiced the hand signs. Ino was worn out and bored. He couldn't believe Naruto did stuff like this every day.
"Well show me another fifty times, then," Naruto demanded and dropped the scroll to the side. "Cause I'm missing something."
Sighing, Ino went over the motions again; Naruto, staring at his hands, refused to blink. When Ino finished, Naruto stated, "Again," and Ino went through them once more.
"Again."
Ino's hands went into motion.
"Again."
He did the signs again, slower this time, tired and annoyed.
"Again," Naruto ordered.
"I'm tired and hungry," Ino said instead, appearing weary.
Naruto met Ino's heavy lidded eyes, uncaring. "Again."
Closing his eyes, Ino went through the signs again, almost as if in slow motion, not because he chose to, but because he didn't feel up to do them at the speed they had to be performed.
"Wait."
He stopped his hands and opened his eyes. "What?" Ino asked, looking down at the sign his hands were doing.
"Your pinkie," Naruto stated, peering at the finger.
"What about it?" Ino said and lifted his hands to see.
"It's curved back instead of forward," Naruto muttered. "Do that sign completely. Slowly."
Ino nodded and obliged, suddenly full of excited energy.
"Yes!" Naruto crowed and raised a fist in celebration. "When you do that sign, you curve your pinkie back then forward for a second instead of just forward from the start!" she explained, and Ino felt his excitement continue to boil.
"Why didn't I see that in the scroll?" Naruto wondered and picked up the parchment, eyes scanning it urgently.
Ino sighed, this time in relief. They were getting somewhere, even if it was a little. "There must be little quirks in the hand signs that I never realized I was doing before. My dad helped me learn so many years ago, that I barely used the scroll anyway," he said and smacked his forehead lightly. "So stupid!"
"No time for that, Ino, my bra is making my breasts itchy and hot, I'm sweaty and I need to go to the bathroom," Naruto announced firmly, then added, "I wouldn't mind stripping down and running around naked right now."
Ino blinked at Naruto. "Excuse me?"
"That's not the point though," Naruto continued, ignoring his question. "You have to go over the signs slowly, and in order, so we can find whatever else is different about the hand signs."
Ino nodded, trying not to imagine Naruto running through the streets naked in his body. Just another thing to tack on top of his parents being shown a boner, and Shikamaru thinking they were fucking. And being stuck in Naruto's body. The problems were piling up.
"All right then," Naruto started.
"Ino!" a voice cried and Naruto and Ino turned at the sound.
Sakura Haruno was hurrying toward them, white medical garb swaying slightly at her ankles. She'd let her hair grow out again, past her shoulders, to emulate Tsunade, and had a small blue diamond on her forehead, much like her master's.
Ino smacked his forehead again. "I forgot. . ."
"I've been looking for you all over! We're going to be late!" Sakura said and blinked as she took note of a worried Ino. "Naruto?"
"Yeah?" Naruto and Ino replied simultaneously. Ino jabbed Naruto in the side.
"What're you doing here?" Sakura asked.
"Training," Ino stated and grinned. "Ino was training with me."
Naruto nodded, rubbing her side.
"You two were training. . . together?" Sakura's forehead furrowed in disbelief.
"Yup!"
"Yeah."
Naruto slung an arm around Ino's neck and over his broad shoulders. "We've become good friends," she added though Ino was quick to brush the arm away.
"Not that good of friends," Ino declared, eyeing Naruto with a glare.
"Well, okay. . . either way, we have to go," Sakura muttered, confused by the sudden, budding, friendship.
"Yeah, I really do need to go," Naruto said, thinking more about the bathroom than whatever Sakura was talking about.
Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm. "Well, come on then. The others probably won't wait for us." With her abnormal strength, she easily pulled Naruto to her feet, who squawked in surprise.
"Others? There are going to be others in the bathroom?" Naruto marveled, looking from Sakura to Ino in confusion.
Ino smacked his forehead one last time and shook his head.
"Bathroom?" Sakura repeated. "You can go to the bathroom when we get to the restaurant."
"Restaurant?" Naruto asked. "Why am I going to a restaurant?"
Sakura blinked and looked at Ino who quickly shrugged and looked as dumb as he could.
"I think I hit her head a little hard when we were practicing."
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed and glared at Ino.
Sighing, Sakura tugged in Naruto's arm. "Come on, Ino," she muttered.
Naruto look to Ino in desperation, scared for her life and bladder. She chose to remain silent as Sakura quickly led them away. Glancing back, she lost sight of Ino and her dread mounted.
"So what were you and Naruto working on, Ino-pig?" Sakura asked as they made their way down a busy Konoha street.
"Uh. . . just. . . getting me into better shape. . ." Naruto muttered and rubbed the back of her head with her free hand.
Sakura smiled. "That's good. I was afraid you were getting kinda lazy," she replied.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Naruto mumbled in frustration. She hated being suddenly so weak, when she was just a couple days ago so strong. She flexed her free arm, frowning at the smaller bulge that appeared, representing her muscles. She missed her arms. "So what're we doing?"
Sakura shook her head, dumbfounded by who she thought was Ino. "We have the weekly Kunoichi meeting tonight," she explained. "The one we go to every week?"
Naruto scratched the back of her head nervously. "Kunoichi meeting?" she repeated and started glancing about for an escape. Sakura's grip was too tight around her wrist though, and she was not letting go.
They entered a quaint looking restaurant, and Naruto nearly peed her pants at the sight that awaited them. Every Kunoichi, and a few she didn't recognize, all Chuunin and higher, were sitting around a large round table against the far wall. Tsunade's eyes widened at the sight of them approaching, and Naruto grinned weakly in return.
"Sorry we're late," Sakura announced as she let go of Naruto.
Wincing, Naruto grabbed her wrist, cradling and rubbing it gently.
"We've only ordered drinks," Tenten replied, setting down her menu.
"Drinks?" Naruto muttered. "No drinks, bathroom!" she exclaimed and made a mad dash for the restroom.
The table of girls all watched her run, staring in confusion.
"What's up with Yamanaka?" Anko asked no one in particular.
"If you'll excuse me a moment," Tsunade stated and made her way from the table, following after Naruto. She pushed the door open, immediately taking note of two young girls standing at the sink, washing their hands and chatting amicably.
Upon noticing the Hokage, the most powerful female Kuniochi alive, the two girls stopped and stared. "Ho-Hokage-sama!"
"Get out."
The girls nodded dumbly and hurried from the bathroom.
"If there's anyone else in here, I suggest you leave now before I get angry," Tsunade added.
A stall burst open and a woman stumbled out, hurriedly pulling up her pants as she rushed from the room.
Tsunade turned and locked the door, preventing anyone else from entering. "Naruto?"
"Maybe?" a voice answer meekly from behind another stall door.
Tsunade rubbed her forehead. "Where's Ino?"
"I don't know."
"Shouldn't you two be training?"
"Do you mind, I'm trying to go to the bathroom here! I'm still not used to this and talking while doing it isn't helping."
"Well hurry up!" Tsunade snapped. She listened to the grumbling that followed and soon Naruto was exiting the stall, looking exactly like Ino to her eyes. She rubbed the back of her neck, still unused to see Ino's body with Naruto inside of it. The smaller blonde walked over to the sink and quickly washed her hands.
"So?"
"We were getting somewhere, but Sakura came and interrupted us and dragged me here," Naruto explained as she dried her hands. "I'm sure Ino's on her . . . the way here right now."
"Well, we can't have you be here at the Kunoichi Meeting," Tsunade said.
"Pfft, why would I want to sit around with a bunch of girls, probably talking about stupid women things?" Naruto asked, rolling her eyes.
Tsunade swung at Naruto but stopped, her hand an inch away from the other girls head. "You're lucky you're in Ino's body, otherwise I'd hit you."
Naruto grinned cheekily. "Is that a fact?"
"Don't push your luck, that won't stop me from making your life a living hell," the Hokage stated. "Now, when we go back out there, I'm going to tell them that you have an assignment with Morino that you have to go to right away. Ino's worked with him before."
"The torture, psycho, nut-job, wacko, crazy, looney, cold-hearted, weirdo?" Naruto muttered, eyes wide. "You actually make Ino do assignments with that guy?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "You sound as if you're concerned for her, Naruto," she replied with a smirk.
"Well, no, that's not it," Naruto said nervously, wringing her hands. "It's just . . . Morino is crazy! And . . . making Ino work with him . . . that's just mean!"
Tsunade's other eyebrow rose. "Is it now? She seems to work rather well with him."
"Well then she's crazy too! I don't want to work with Morino!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing her hands up, eyes wide. "All you women are crazy! I'm going crazy and I've only been a woman for less than two days! I miss my penis! I miss being able to stand up and pee! I keep forgetting I'm a girl and try standing and it gets all over the place when I do instead of in the toilet like it should!"
"As a guy?" Tsunade muttered in confusion, having lost herself in Naruto's rant.
"AS A GIRL! My breasts are itchy and sweaty and heavy and my ass and hips are throwing off my walk and run and Shikamaru thinks Ino and I are doing it!"
This time Tsunade did hit Naruto, as lightly as she could, which still resulted in Naruto falling to the ground. "Calm down, Naruto," she ordered and Naruto immediately quieted. "You're right, you've been a woman for less than two days, so it's too soon to be losing your mind already, and I'm not going to make you work with Ibiki, and from now on remember to sit down when using the toilet. And what does Shikamaru think? "
"I don't want to be stuck like this," Naruto whispered, suddenly sounding utterly defeated. Staring blankly at her hands, she clenching them into tight fists. She felt utterly defeated. "I hate this."
Tsunade placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You're not going to be stuck like this, Naruto. You and Ino will fix this, I have no doubt. Every time you get yourself into a messy situation, and apparently it's been messy, you somehow find a way out. It's in your nature to get out of problems like this. You just have to be patient right now."
Nodding weakly, Naruto raised her head and smiled. "I need to get back to Ino, we need to keep training."
Tsunade turned and unlocked the door. "Then lets get you out of here," she stated.
Ino stood, arms crossed, eyes wide, and foot tapping. Immediately his hand reached out and grabbed Naruto's arm. "Took you long enough!" he exclaimed, pulling Naruto from the bathroom.
"Ino!" Naruto shouted, surprised, drawing the attention of the surrounding tables. The table of Kunoichi stared at the two as well. Naruto froze for a moment. "Uh . . . is my name!" she quickly added.
"That's your damn name all right!" Ino supplied loudly.
Tsunade smacked her forehead.
"So come on, 'Ino', lets get back to training," Ino growled through grit teeth, tugging on Naruto's arm.
"Why does everyone keep dragging me places?" Naruto whined. She hastily grabbed a piece of bread off of a couple's table, who squawked in surprised and anger at the blatant thievery of their food. Popping the bread into her mouth, Naruto chewed fast before sticking her tongue out, covered in food, at the couple. She widened her eyes crazily, daring them to challenge her.
"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Sakura demanded, standing from the table.
Naruto turned to the pink haired girl and swallowed heavily.
"Ino and I need to get back to training," Ino stated, nodding his head. "So we're going now."
"Ino needs to be here for the Kunoichi meeting," Sakura stated and moved to approach the two but was immediately cut off by Tsunade.
"Not tonight," the Hokage said, blocking her apprentice. "Those two need to train."
Naruto tore her arm free of Ino's grip, glaring at him in annoyance. She grabbed three more rolls of bread from another table, stuffing two into her pockets and the other in her mouth. "Comfh on!" she garbled and marched for the exit.
Ino hurried after, ignoring the stares of confusion. The thought of Naruto and Ino training together, and with the Hokage's backing, was utterly unexpected. Something strange was going on.
"Something strange is going on," Anko announced.
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Kurenai replied dully. The red-eyed Kunoichi turned to Tsunade. "What's going on between those two? Everyone here knows that Ino hates Naruto and Naruto can barely stand Ino."
Sakura retook her seat, shaking her head. "When I found them, they were acting all buddy-buddy. It doesn't make sense to me."
"And you shouldn't dwell on it any longer. I've ordered Naruto to train Ino as I felt she was growing lax," Tsunade lied. "I suppose that during the training they've gotten used to each other and are starting to get along."
The Kunoichi around the table eyed one another, finding it hard to believe that two people as stubborn, loud and short tempered as Naruto and Ino could get along.
"How come I've never heard about these Kunoichi meetings?" Naruto asked as she and Ino walked back to the training grounds.
"Are you a Kunoichi?" Ino replied.
"I am right now. . ." Naruto muttered in annoyance.
"Yeah, well, typically you're not, so the meetings are none of your concern, thus you're never told about them."
"What do you guys talk about?"
"We 'guys', talk about girl stuff." Ino rolled his eyes, annoyed.
Naruto made a face. "I was right. How lame. You don't talk about training methods or missions and stuff?"
Ino sighed. "Let's just get back to training," he replied, shaking his head in disbelief.
Setting her jaw, Naruto looked up to Ino as they walked. "Don't worry, I'll fix this. It's in my nature to get out of problems like this," she stated.
Ino half grinned at Naruto's sudden confidence. "I know."
Nodding, Naruto pulled out the two pieces of bread she had pocketed. She took a bite out of one while wordlessly offering the other to Ino.
Blinking at Naruto's gesture, Ino took the roll. Smiling silently at the girl scarfing down the bread, Ino took a bite of his own. The two continued down the street, eating their rolls in silence, content for the time being.
The rest of the night was spent training and going over the finer details of Ino's hand signs. They discovered a few more twists and bends in the motions before giving up for the night and returning to Ino's apartment.
Changing into their nightwear was still an awkward event, with Naruto at one point walking around completely topless, flaunting her chest, and teasing Ino. Ino had screamed bloody murdered, prompting a few neighbors to come and knocked on the door to see if everything was okay.
"Is everything all right, Yamanaka-san?" an elderly woman asked after Naruto had opened the door a crack to peer outside.
"Everything's fine! Why do you ask?"
"We thought we heard a man yelling," an older man replied, brow furrowed.
Naruto nodded again. "Yeah, it was just the TV. Sorry to concern you."
The older man frowned, not believing. Rudely, he pushed the door open, revealing a still half naked Naruto.
Covering her chest protectively, Naruto slapped the man across the face, his nose having already begun to bleed. "Pervert!" she screamed and slammed the door literally into the man's face.
The man fell backward and the door swung open from the rebound, revealing herself to the five other people standing outside. "All of you are perverts!" she cried as she noticed the elderly woman sporting a nosebleed of her own.
She slammed the door again before throwing her arms up in the air in frustration.
Ino's head appeared from his bedroom. "You handled that well," he stated dryly before walking out and approaching Naruto. "Thanks for flashing my neighbors."
"That old man pushed the door open," Naruto grumbled and grabbed the large t-shirt she had worn the night before, tugging it over her head. "Dirty old man!" she spat. "I'll be happy if you never see that guy again! I should kick his ass."
Ino raised an eyebrow at Naruto's reaction. "He saw my body, not yours, Naruto," he said. "I don't see why you're getting so upset."
"Because I feel violated and now that pervert's seen you half naked and that's not right! He shouldn't have seen that!" Naruto explained through her anger.
"You're pretty upset about something you've been doing to my body yourself," Ino stated dryly.
"But that's different," Naruto mumbled under her breath.
"How so?" Ino asked.
"I don't know, it just is." Naruto crossed her arms over her chest, still upset. "It's just different."
Ino shook his head, not understanding the reasoning. Here Naruto was, looking at his real body, and yet when someone else saw it, she was pissed about it?
"You don't make any sense," Ino muttered and headed back to his room. "Go to sleep. We have a lot more training to do tomorrow."
Naruto shook her head, confused herself by her own reaction. "Yeah, sleep."
"I'm surprised at how little upset you are about that old guy seeing your body topless like that," Naruto said the next day, as she rested her head on her hand. They had dressed in the same clothes as the day before, and to Naruto's surprise, Ino didn't complain about the smell. Again, no showers were taken, another thing Ino didn't complain about, and something else that surprised Naruto.
"He's seen me topless before. He barges in all the time," Ino replied, frowning slightly. "He didn't see anything new, so stop dwelling on it."
"Why don't you pound him for it though?" Naruto retorted.
"He's an old man, Naruto, I'm not going to beat up an old man," Ino replied, sighing at Naruto's attitude.
Naruto snorted and rolled her eyes. "Just not right," she muttered, flopped to the ground, and stared up at the slow moving clouds. She rested her hands behind her head. "So what do we need to go over today."
"I think we should just go over the entire thing again, make sure we didn't miss anything, and you know it all before we start trying to do it faster," Ino suggested.
"We'll never get this done before my mission," Naruto muttered and sighed.
Ino dropped the scroll onto Naruto's stomach, catching her by surprise. "Sit up, we need to get to work."
Rubbing her stomach and glaring at Ino, Naruto sat up. She didn't like how slow things were progressing. "Today is day two . . . and if by tomorrow we haven't switched back, Tsunade's gonna give my mission away."
"Why does this mission mean so much to you? It's just one mission?" Ino asked curiously.
"Because I did a mission there before, a number of years ago. . . I made a. . . friend there, and I want to go back and see them," Naruto explained. "It's been nearly ten years."
"So stop being so Shikamaru like and get to work!" Ino demanded, stomping his foot. He normally would've kicked Naruto, but that would only damage his real body and that wasn't something he wanted.
Naruto pushed herself to her feet, standing across from Ino. A cool breeze swept past, and she closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling, her long hair swaying to the side. It carried with it the smell of Konoha, the nearby trees and rustling grass. "All right, time to get to work."
"All right. . . time to go to bed," Ino groaned, rubbing his side to sooth an ache.
They had spent the rest of the day training in solitude, accomplishing little. Upon trying to speed up her hands, Naruto had fumbled over the different hand signs. At one point, she'd summoned a small ball of flame and lit her gloves on fire. That'd been fun. The sun had gone down three hours earlier, making the moon lit training much more difficult. The stars more visible where they were than in the middle of Konoha, and those they could see, shown strongly in the dark sky.
"ARGH!" Naruto shouted in frustration, clutching her hair in her hands. "This is ridiculous! How have we not gotten any closer?"
"I told you, it took me about three years to learn it," Ino muttered. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but you've got to forget about that mission."
Naruto growled loudly, clenching her fists. "I'm going to fix this! Going to fix this, fix me, and fix you!" she declared fiercely. She exhaled, relaxing and whispered, "And then I'm going to take a bath."
Ino sighed, scratching his forehead. "Bath sounds nice right now," he agreed. "If we don't change back by twelve tomorrow, then we'll have to go to Tsunade again."
Glaring at Ino, Naruto crossed her arms over her chest. "We'll see about that," she growled defiantly.
"Come on, you stubborn idiot," Ino muttered. "Let's get some sleep, we'll start again early in the morning."
"You're a stubborn idiot." Naruto pouted but yawned right after. She was sapped and couldn't wait to go to sleep. It was truly frustrating how little stamina Ino had. Her clone shook its head in disappointment before popping out of existence. The extinction of her clone overwhelmed her with exhaustion, and she found herself dropping to her knees, her head swimming with dizziness.
Ino was at her side in a second. "You all right, Naruto?" he asked, placing a hand on her back gently.
Shaking her head, Naruto tried to grin. "Yeah, just using that clone all day really wore me out," she explained. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm the swirling in her head. "You really need to train more, Ino."
"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that. We're not all stamina freaks like you," Ino groused and sniffed at clothes he was wearing. He grimaced. "But I get the point."
"I think I'm good," Naruto mumbled and pushed herself to her feet. She stood still for a moment before crumpling to the ground, her knees having given out beneath her. Her eye sight darkened, and as she fell, strong arms wrapped around her.
Ino cradled Naruto in his arms gently, having caught her before she could hit the ground. He checked her pulse in her neck, finding it stable. Snorting in wry annoyance, Ino easily lifted Naruto into his arms, and began the sprint back to his apartment.
Naruto woke slowly and rubbed her forehead as she sat up. She was back on Ino's couch, still fully dressed. "Ino?" she called out.
Ino entered from the kitchen, glass of water in his hand. Slowly, he held the glass out for Naruto, dark bags under his eyes that Naruto hadn't seen before. "We need to go over to your place and pick up some clothes. I can't keep wearing this training outfit," he said.
Naruto nodded and started to drink.
"And then I'm taking a shower," Ino added.
Naruto spat out the water, spraying her legs. "Whoa! I thought we went over the whole shower thing?"
"It's been nearly three days without one. I'm sweaty, I'm dirty, I stink. I want a shower," Ino stated with all the seriousness that he could muster.
"I don't want you seeing me fully naked!" Naruto burst, and swung her legs off the couch. She attempted to stand, but failed and crumpled abruptly to the floor, exhausted.
"A small price to pay," Ino intoned.
"FOR YOU!"
"Look, it's not like I haven't seen your thing by now," Ino replied. "Me taking a shower will be no different."
"Yes it will! You'll be alone with it! And wet! And nude! And wet!"
"You said wet already," Ino mumbled.
"And soapy!" Naruto shouted as she tried to pull herself back onto the couch. "I don't care! I don't want you violating my body!"
"What makes you think I'm going to violate your body!" Ino retorted angrily, large fists clenching. "If anyone's going to violate a body, it'll probably be you violating mine!"
"Hey, that's not fair!" Naruto countered. "I'm a guy! I can't help those things!"
"Sicko pervert," Ino muttered. "Of all the people to end up in my body."
"It could've been worse. Could've been Kakashi or Lee."
Ino shuddered at the thought. "Let's. . . not talk about that possibility anymore and just go to your apartment," he said, and extended a hand to Naruto. "Besides, that's why we have the ground rules."
Groaning, Naruto reached out and took the offered hand. She was easily lifted to her feet, though her legs still wobbled beneath her. She grabbed Ino's arm with her other hand to steady herself. "I'll just hold onto you til I get my leg strength back," she suggested.
Ino raised an eyebrow at her. "People are gonna get the wrong idea seeing you latched onto me like this."
Naruto looked up at Ino coyly. "And you have a problem with that?" she asked sweetly. "Girls will be jealous of you, clinging to my arm like this." She squeezed her real body's arm for emphasis. "Wow, my arms are huge!" she exclaimed, surprised by how big her real arms were. She squeezed them again. "Even my fake one."
Ino hung his head, yanking his arm free. Outside of the wrapping around his right arm, Ino had pretty much forgotten Naruto's arm wasn't real. They'd done one hell of a good job at creating and attaching it.
Naruto collapsed to the floor under the weight of her body once again. "Ow. . ." she mumbled as she crawled back onto the couch as best she could.
"How about you just tell me where your apartment is, and I go get clothes by myself?" Ino suggested in exasperation.
Naruto slumped into the couch, exhaling in exhaustion. "That sounds like a good idea," she breathed, arms and legs aching.
Ino walked down a street of Konoha in the direction of Naruto's apartment. He'd left the girl on his couch, groaning and moaning like a baby.
His clothes were covered in dirt and reeked of women's deodorant to cover up the three days of no shower smell. He ignored the looks he was receiving as best he could; some were cold, most were friendly, and quite a few were hungry. Ino wrinkled her nose at a pair of girls in skimpy clothing as they walked past, the two eyeing him like starving beasts.
Were girls really this attracted to Naruto, Ino wondered. Did they not know how much of an idiot he really was, or how annoying he could be? Swiping the hair out of his face, Ino moved quickly away from the two girls. He was used to guys looking at him in that way, but girls suddenly giving him the hungry, horny look, made him feel rather uncomfortable.
"Naruto."
Ino recognized the cool, near emotionless voice immediately. He tried to remain calm. It wasn't every day that Sasuke Uchiha chose to spoke to anyone, and typically if he did, it was to either Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, or the Tsunade. It also wasn't typically for Sasuke to be in Konoha at all after everything that'd happened during the war. Sasuke had left Konoha afterward in search of himself, refusing to replace his severed left arm as Naruto had.
Sure, he wasn't talking to him as Ino, but still, to be able to talk to Sasuke was a gift to anyone.
Grinning widely, Ino spun around to face the last Uchiha. Black hair longer than Naruto's, it hung over his left eye, hiding it from view. Ino noted he wasn't wearing his Konoha headband and wondered if he ever did anymore. A black cloak covered his entire body, the fan symbol of the Uchiha family centered on the back. It hid his body, outfit and the dangerous weapons underneath, specifically his chokuto: Kusanagi(1). It also hid his missing left arm.
Ino tried not to blush, thinking about what Sasuke's body looked like beneath the cloak. It had been many years since he'd gotten over his crush, but it still was tucked in the back of his mind how good Sasuke looked. It didn't feel right to be attracted to the Uchiha while in a guys body though, especially Naruto's.
Sasuke met Ino's eyes with his own pure black ones.
"Sasuke," Ino acknowledged as cooly as he could.
The last Uchiha brushed past Ino, who gaped in amazement. Was that all there was? Sasuke didn't have anything else to say except 'Naruto'?
Sasuke stopped and looked back, meeting Ino's eyes once more, and Ino understood that he should follow.
Catching up, Ino fell into step beside the quiet Uchiha. The two walked in silence for a couple of minutes, through the night life civilians of Konoha. They garnered many amazed and awed looks from people; two of the most famous and powerful ninja in the entire world, casually walking down the street was always a sight to behold.
Naruto was always easily recognizable to the crowds, his blonde hair sticking out like a sore thumb. Sasuke was much harder to notice, usually hidden under his cloak and avoiding large crowds. He stayed in the abandoned Uchiha neighborhood, preferring to live alone, if or when he returned to Konoha. Ino wouldn't be surprised to hear that Sasuke left the village the next morning.
The two walked until they reached the bridge leading to training area eight. Sasuke stopped, prompting Ino to do the same.
In the dark of the night, Ino tried desperately not to wring his hands together in anxiety. He took a deep breath, relishing the cool air.
"Where's Atsuta?"
Ino blinked and reached behind his back, realizing the blade wasn't there. "I guess I left it at home," he muttered.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Ino. "It's not like you to leave it behind so carelessly, Naruto," he replied.
Inhaling deeply, Ino said nothing, unsure of what he should, and trying desperately not to stare into his dark eyes. He blushed uncomfortably.
"I've been told that you've been given a mission in Spring Country," Sasuke said and for the first time his hand exited the cloak to rest on the bridge's railing.
Ino's eyes immediately found the ruby red ring Sasuke worn around his right ring finger. The kanji for 'bloody' was written in the middle.
Scratching the back of his neck, Ino coughed nervously. "Yeah, Spring Country."
Sasuke nodded. "I've been in the surrounding area recently. Things are not as peaceful as we would hope. There are rumors of war. The surrounding nations, particularly the Land of Thunder, don't want Princess Yukie to become the Queen. At the moment they view Spring Country as an extension of their own land. They believe Yukie's ascension will further forestall any attempts to fully acquire the land as one of their own countries."
Ino nodded, listening carefully. He didn't want to interrupt Sasuke.
"In addition, Spring Country has become very valuable since the snows melted away, their technology something to be desired. When Yukie becomes Queen, she, of course, intends to give that technology to our country."
"Another reason the Land of Thunder wouldn't want her to become Queen," Ino added.
Sasuke's hand disappeared beneath his cloak again. "Strange weather as well," he muttered auspiciously.
"What do you mean?" Ino asked, glancing at the sky. It had been typical Konoha weather that day.
The Sharingan user was suddenly walking away. "Take warm clothes."
"To Spring Country?"
"You'll understand when you see," Sasuke said before vanishing into the shadows. The last thing to disappear was the fan symbol on his back.
Ino sighed deeply, not liking what he'd just heard. Being in Naruto's body was getting more and more complicated by the minute.
Next Time: Chapter 4 - Playing The Part
Mission to Spring Country in danger of being given away, Naruto must convince Ino to go along with her new plan.
A/N: This chapter was a bit more serious than the last, more about the troubles and how hard learning the technique is. Sorry this took so long for me to do, I just got caught in a funk for about a week before churning out the last 5 pages of this in a matter of a day. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Tell me what you thought!
In the first Naruto movie, when they were going to Snow/Spring Country, they had to take a boat, so I'm assuming that Snow/Spring Country is an island and that it's somewhere North, above Thunder Country.
1. Sasuke calls his Chukotu 'Kusanagi' though it's not the original one. Orochimaru had the original one in his mouth . . . apparently.