Naruto's apartment wasn't too far from Ino's, much to her surprise, but it wasn't in a nice neighborhood. It was also a larger building. When Ino stepped into Naruto's apartment, reeking of women's deodorant, he paused in disbelief. The place was . . . immaculate.
To say Ino was surprised would be an understatement. Naruto had lived alone his, now her, entire life; no adults around to order her to clean her room, so to see the apartment so clean was, of course, unexpected. It was bigger than Ino expected as well. He was impressed with its size, two times as large as his own. It was clear to see that Naruto was making a whole lot more money than him. The living room alone was almost as big as his entire place.
Ino sighed. "Must be all the A and S Ranked missions . . ." he muttered and made his way into the kitchen. He gaped at it as well. It was near spotless and full of everything a master chef would dream of. A full stove, two ovens, a professional knife rack, and a massive refrigerator, no doubt crammed with ingredients and other assorted goodies.
Ino smiled at the adorable ninja magnets covering the refrigerator doors. He fiddled with a magnet shaped like a katana, turning it over as if it were ready to stab downward. Pulling open the fridge, Ino was shocked to find it almost empty. A lone carton of milk, a small block of cheese, and a couple bottles of water made up the contents. There was no meat, no vegetables. It was pathetic; a waste of space.
Shaking his head and closing the fridge, Ino made his way back through the living room, back to what had to be Naruto's bedroom. It was definitely bigger than the one at his apartment, and there even appeared to be a walk-in closet. Rubbing his hands together, Ino moved to check it out. He slid open the closet doors, and immediately marveled at how large it was. And how empty. Naruto had used only half of the walk-in closet, clearly made for two. Ino sighed wistfully, knowing he could fill the entire thing with all his clothes.
"Black, orange, black, orange, orange, orange, black, dark blue," Ino muttered as he looked through Naruto's clothes selection. He snorted in annoyance. "What a great selection you have here, Naruto," he added sarcastically.
"Purple, purple, purple, black, blue, purple," Naruto grumbled, searching Ino's closet. "What a crappy selection . . ."
She was wearing a large towel around her midsection, her long, wet hair clinging to her shoulders and dripping water onto the floor. Immediately upon Ino's departure, Naruto had dragged herself to the shower. After painstakingly stripping herself, she'd posed in front of the mirror, checking Ino's body out completely. To say she was impressed would have been an understatement. Ino's body was a near picture of perfection. It was no wonder that every guy, outside of Sasuke, Shino, and herself, had shown interest in Yamanaka girl.
"Brown? Really, Ino?" she asked, incredulously, to an Ino that wasn't there. She sighed, sliding all the outfits aside on their hangers, intending to look deeper inside the closet.
She stopped, eyes widening, breath caught in her throat. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen and to find it in Ino's closet of all places was a miracle in itself. Its existence in this place had to be a mistake. It wasn't in Ino's style at all to own something that looked so good to Naruto. Sure, Ino was sexy in the typical colors and clothes, but this was . . . this was as if seeing her father, the Yondaime, come back to life before her very eyes yet again. (1)
Naruto blinked though, brow furrowing in thought. It appeared familiar suddenly, and her shoulders slumped at the realization. It was something she'd given to Sakura as a birthday present, and here it was in Ino's closet, hidden away. Angrily, Naruto slammed the hanging clothes back together, once again hiding it from view.
She tore the one blue outfit off its hanger and smashed the closet door closed.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Kishimoto. If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this fic.
"Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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 reading and your reviews, they mean a lot.
Thanks kindly to Corwin, my far away friend, for helping again. Your input and corrections are greatly appreciated.
Chapter 4 - Playing The Part
"I'm back," Ino announced as he entered his apartment. He was wearing one of Naruto's blacker outfits, with only the sleeves orange.
Naruto sat-up from where she had been laying on Ino's couch. She looked refreshed, clean, wearing one of Ino's blue ninja garbs.
"Everything go okay?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, Naruto, everything went fine. I survived the great ordeal of going to your apartment and coming back without you. It was tough at some points, not blurting out to the village that I've been in your body for the past two days," Ino bit out sarcastically. "I thought about taking advantage of a couple guys as well, made some passes at them, but they apparently weren't into you that much."
". . . I hate you so much right now."
Ino brushed Naruto's comment off with a girlish wave of his hand. "I did run into Sasuke-kun though. Or more he ran into me. Well, we didn't really run into each other so much as-"
Naruto shook her head, long hair swinging. "You're rambling, Ino. What did Sasuke say? If that bastard said anything that is."
Coughing, Ino nodded. "Right, sorry." He looked around the room briefly. "Where's Atsuta? He was wondering why I wasn't carrying it. Why would that matter?"
Naruto palmed her face. "Idiot . . . Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
"What's the big deal with not having Atsuta?" Ino asked again.
"Just . . . from now on . . . don't leave this place without it," Naruto ordered.
"You act as if you'll die without it, Naruto."
"Die? No . . . but I'd definitely lose something very important . . ."
Ino blinked. "Riiiiight . . . whatever . . . Anyway, Sasuke-kun just told me something about Spring Country and the Lightning Country butting heads . . . Princess Yukie becoming Queen and to bring warm clothes when I go?"
Naruto nodded to herself and allowed herself a moment of silence to think. She looked up at Ino, a pure realization formed in her eyes.
"You listen really poorly."
"I'm sorry! It's just, how often does Sasuke-kun talk to me!" Ino exclaimed.
"He wasn't talking to YOU, he was talking to ME, who is YOU, but still ME," Naruto retorted and slumped further into the couch.
"Now allow me to show you how my mind works," she continued. "Obviously, from what you've said, Lightning Country wants Spring Country to be a part of their land, along with Spring Country's superior technology. Princess Yukie, a good friend of ours, intends to give that technology to us once she becomes Queen, thus Lightning Country intends to stop this."
Ino gaped, eyes wide. "Ho-how'd you know? I mea-yeah, that's-that's pretty much what Sasuke-kun said," he mumbled. Did Naruto and Sasuke really think so much alike?
Naruto closed her eyes and inhaled, looking far more wise than usual. She nodded. "Hmm . . ." She opened her eyes and looked at Ino seriously. "Because that's what
they said in the MISSION BRIEFING I had two days ago!"
Hissing through his teeth, Ino fought the urge to punch Naruto in the face. "Can't do it . . . not to my body . . ." he grumbled.
Rubbing her forehead, Naruto sighed. "It's likely he figured that my report didn't have some of that information, but what I don't understand is the 'bring warm clothes' comment." She snuck a glance at Ino. "Why bring warm clothes to Spring Country?"
Ino said nothing, looking Naruto up and down. He sniffed the air before crossing his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes, and pursing his lips. "You took a shower, didn't you?"
Standing up, Naruto looked Ino up and down as well. "So did you," she retorted, copying Ino's posture.
Ino faltered, suddenly turning red. "Uh . . . well then . . ."
"I didn't break any rules," Naruto said.
"Neither did I."
"Then I think we'll just leave things left unsaid," Naruto stated coolly. "Agreed?"
"Agreed."
They stood in silence for a moment before Naruto broke it, saying bluntly, "You've got a really nice ass."
Ino coughed, trying not to blush or get angry. "So do you."
"Thanks! I grabbed yours a couple times."
"What?" Ino exclaimed angrily, fists clenching. "We have ground rules!"
Naruto grinned and gave a thumbs up. She flopped back onto the couch, putting her hands behind her head. "Let's hurry up and hit the sack then, yeah?"
Ino blinked, still peeved but taking note of Naruto's suddenly more subdued demeanor. "Uh . . . yeah," he mumbled suspiciously. He would figure out a way to get back at Naruto.
"I gotta get your technique down before noon tomorrow," Naruto said. "Unless . . ." she trailed off, lost in thought once again.
"All right then," Ino mutter nervously. He didn't want to know what Naruto was thinking. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, Naruto."
"Wait."
Ino winced at the command, almost knowing that nothing good could come of what Naruto was about to say.
"I've got . . ." Naruto was sitting up now, eyes wide, as if searching. ". . . a plan"
Ino's shoulders slumped, face disheartened. "A plan? A plan for what, exactly?"
"If we can't switch back in time tomorrow, Tsunade's going to give my mission away, right?" She was on her feet suddenly, pacing in front of the couch, ticking a slim finger against her chin.
"Yes, we've gone over that," Ino replied dully. "What's this idiotic plan of yours?"
"You pretend to be me, obviously," Naruto declared as if it were the most intelligible thing in the world. "If we can't switch back, you and I go into Tsunade's office and convince her that we have."
"Goodnight, Naruto," Ino stated blandly and made for his bedroom.
"Hey, wait!" Naruto exclaimed.
"No, Naruto! I'm NOT doing that for you! It's stupid! There's no way that would work! Just forget about that mission!" Ino shouted, still leaving.
Naruto dropped back onto the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you don't do this, I'll tell your father that we slept together."
Ino stopped, turned around, and trotted back to the couch. "I'll cut off your dick if you do."
Naruto stopped. "Touché . . ."
"We done here?" Ino asked. "Cause I'd like to go to sleep."
"It's an S-Ranked mission, Ino."
Ino paused, only briefly, but just enough that Naruto took notice. "So?"
And Naruto knew that she had him. "What was the last S-Ranked mission you had?" she asked curiously, though she pretty much knew when it was.
Ino said nothing. The last official S-Rank mission he'd been a part of was back during the Akatsuki attacks, against Hidan and Kakuzu. It hurt him to think that he'd done pretty much nothing on that mission. Sure, she'd taken part in the Great War, but so had everyone else. It made it hardly anything worth bragging about.
"Hmm . . . but yeah, I guess you're not ready for another S-Rank," Naruto declared and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well. You're right, my idea was stupid."
"I so too am ready for a S-Rank mission!" Ino snarled, and she leaned over the back of the couch, glaring at the standing Naruto.
Naruto rolled her eyes and sat back down. "Whatever, Ino, it's probably for the best that you don't go on this mission. You'd only end up damaging my body. And that's the last thing I want, obviously. My body is very precious. That's what all the ladies always say.
"It was honestly stupid of me to even think of us going on that mission like this," he concluded in false defeat.
Still leaning over the couch, Ino grinned dangerously. "Tell me . . . how exactly do you act around Tsunade-sama? What all do I need to know? I'm gonna prove to you I can handle this!"
Naruto couldn't hide her own grin. "If I know that Baba as well as I do, and I know her pretty well, I know exactly what she'll do."
"Oy! Tsunade-obachan!"
Said woman blinked in surprise at the sound of Naruto's voice proclaiming her a grandmother. Her eyes narrowed as the doors to her office burst open. "Naruto?"
"You got it!" Ino exclaimed, grinning as stupidly as he could.
Tsunade raised a slim eyebrow at the boy. She rose from her chair. "Guards, if you'll give us a moment alone," the Hokage order to the two ANBU men standing at the sides of the door.
They nodded, and immediately vanished in dual puffs of smoke.
Ino kept grinning before stretching his arms and placing them behind his head. "Ino and I got it fixed, Obachan! I'm back to being me! Was there ever any doubt?"
"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that," Tsunade said and walked around her desk, approaching Ino. "But I have to ask . . ."
"E-eh, ask . . . uh, ask what? If it's about . . . uh, about my mission, I'm more than ready to go!" Ino stuttered, nervous at Tsunade's imposing figure.
The Fifth Hokage put her hand on Ino's shoulder, causing the boy to almost collapse under the strength. "I wanted to ask if you'd want to get some ramen to celebrate."
"Yosh! Ramen!" Ino yelled as enthusiastically as he could, hoping it would force Tsunade to back away. "The perfect pre-mission meal!"
"You're never too tired for ramen, Naruto," Tsunade stated with a smile. "Or should I say Ino?"
"Huh? No!" Ino snapped. "I'm me!" He laughed stupidly and punched the side of his head. Wincing, Ino rubbed the spot.
"What's your favorite bowl of ramen then? Tsunade asked, putting more pressure on Ino's shoulder.
Ino grit his teeth against the strength. "I can't pick a favorite bowl of ramen, Obachan! They're all too good!"
Silently, Tsunade removed her hand from Ino's shoulder. "Good answer. It was a trick question," she intoned. "But Naruto could have told you to say that."
Ino frowned. "I AM Naruto," he replied and grabbed the First Hokage's necklace.
"I took this from you after I won the bet we had the first time we met."
Tsunade inhaled silently through her nose.
"I was gonna die because of Kabuto, but you saved me, and I took it," Ino finished in all seriousness. He was finding himself growing more into the part. It wasn't
uncommon for Ino to play the role of another person. In many missions, using his Mind-Body Switch, he would have to act exactly like the person he inhabited. Acting
was a major part of Ino's life and playing the part of Naruto wasn't as hard as he had initially feared.
"You saved my life first," Tsunade replied, returning to her chair.
Ino grinned.
"Where's Ino then?"
"At her house, reuniting with her parents in her real body," Ino replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. He cracked his neck with a simple turn of his head, relaxing
as much as he could.
Tsunade nodded. "Soichiro."
An ANBU appeared immediately, kneeling before the Hokage's desk. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"Check out the Yamanaka house and see if Ino Yamanaka is there," Tsunade ordered, staring straight into Ino's eyes for any sign of fear.
The ANBU nodded and disappeared.
Ino only smiled as Naruto like as he could. The idiot was smarter than he appeared.
Naruto rubbed her forehead. "Yes, mom . . ."
"And after you're done with that, you can help me prepare lunch," Ino's mom directed. "You're visiting again so soon. It's so nice to see you more often!"
"Yes, mom . . ." Naruto mumbled as she snipped a dead rose from its bush.
"And how's big Naruto-kun?"
"Yes, mom . . ." Naruto blinked then blushed. "I mean he's fine, mom." She viciously cut off another dead rose.
"He's such a big boy," Ino's mom gushed, clapping her gloved hands together.
Naruto grinned broadly. "Damn right he is!" she boasted loudly, raising her arms in a cheer. She coughed nervously and slowly lowered her arms. "Uh . . . I mean, 'Yes, mom.'"
Ino's mom smiled brightly at her 'daughter'. "I'm happy you agree, Ino-chan."
Shaking her head, Naruto brushed her ponytail over her shoulder. She could sense an ANBU appear on the roof and ignored him accordingly. Instead she looked to Ino's mom, a sudden question in mind. "Hey, uh, mom?"
"Yes, Ino-chan?"
"What does it mean if . . . let's say, someone gives someone a gift and that person gives that gift to someone else?" Naruto mumbled nervously.
Ino's mom raised an eyebrow. "Does the person who got the gift last still have it?"
Naruto nodded.
"Well, that only means that the first person who got the gift didn't like it and the second person does," Ino's mom explained logically. "Otherwise the second person would've gotten rid of it as well, right?"
Scratching her head, Naruto suddenly looked skyward, lost in thought. The sun beat down on her face, warming it. Could Ino really like the present she, Naruto, had given Sakura?
"Not possible," Naruto muttered. "Or is it? Could Ino really like-"
"Stop talking to yourself, dear," Ino's mom intoned. "No wonder you have so many problems keeping a boyfriend," she added.
Naruto scratched the back of her head again, this time in embarrassment. "Uh, yeah, that's it, mom," she replied. "It's not cause I'm spoiled or bitchy or anything."
"Of course not," Ino's mom stated. "You're sweet, and smart, and beautiful."
Rolling her eyes, Naruto snipped another withered rose. "Yeah, sweet as acid," she muttered. "Burn your face off with sweetness."
Soichiro appeared in a puff of smoke, kneeling again. "Ino Yamanaka is tending the garden with her mother, as Uzumaki-san stated."
Tsunade nodded and Soichiro disappeared once again. The Hokage moved back to her desk. "I'd like to put you and Ino under surveillance for the next couple days," she declared.
"What! No!" Ino shouted and slammed his hands on the Hokage's desk. "What about my mission! I have to leave tomorrow! The whole point of me fixing this mess with Ino by today was so that I could go!"
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I can't let you go," Tsunade replied evenly and reached for a couple papers on her desk.
Ino's fist slammed down on the desk again, pinning the papers in place. He glared vehemently into Tsunade's eyes. "I want this mission."
Tsunade smiled abruptly. "Now I know that you're Naruto."
Ino blinked, suddenly confused. "Huh? Of course I'm me!"
Shaking her head, Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "Only Naruto would have the balls to angrily demand his own mission. Especially from me. Not even Kakashi can do that." She pulled the papers out from under Ino's fist and held them up to the blonde. "Your mission information."
Ino numbly took the papers from Tsunade's hand. A huge grin appeared on his face. "Yosh! I won't let you down, Tsunade-obachan!" he shouted and jumped over the Hokage, out the window behind her.
Tsunade raised her head, having ducked under Ino's jump, frowning slightly. "That boy . . ."
"Hiyah!" Naruto shouted and brought the knife down quickly. It cut through the sandwich easily, splitting it in half.
Ino's mom raised an eyebrow, amused by her daughter's action.
"Lunch is served!"
"You only made a sandwich, Ino-chan," Ino's mom said.
"Is that not enough for lunch?" Naruto asked, holding up the two halves of the sandwich.
"Usually we make a little more than just a sandwich for lunch," Ino's mom.
Naruto took a bite out of her sandwich and chewed slowly, nodding her head. "Well, I'm good with my sandwich," she replied and took another bite. "Goooood sandwich," ahe added and walked out of the kitchen while sticking her tongue out at Ino's mom. She tripped unceremoniously over the table and the two halves of her sandwich went airborne.
They were snatched out of midair as Naruto shouted in surprise and hit the floor with a heavy thud. "Ow . . . my breasts . . ."
"Yeah, be careful with those, would you?" Ino stated and took a bite of the sandwich. He offered the already bitten into half back to Naruto.
"InnnnnNaruto!" Naruto exclaimed and then cleared her throat uncomfortably as she climbed to her feet. She took back the offered half of the sandwich. "What're you doing here?" she asked through gritted teeth before taking a violent bite.
Chewing, Ino spoke around the food, "I'm leaving tomorrow for my mission. Just thought I'd stop by and tell you." He found himself suddenly dragged upstairs, away from the prying ears of Ino's mom.
"You did it?" Naruto asked anxiously. "You actually tricked Tsunade-obachan?"
"Yup! I leave tomorrow morning to make my way to the Northern seas and catch a ship to Spring Country," Ino explained.
"You mean 'WE' leave tomorrow morning . . ." Naruto stated and grinned.
Ino grinned a Naruto-like grin of his own.
Ino snapped awake and turned his head to see Naruto standing over him. "Get up. We're going."
After spending the remainder of the day hiding from view and acting as normal as Naruto and Ino could, they had each snuck back into Ino's apartment. Naruto had figured that Tsunade would still have them followed for the remainder of the day, to look for any signs that they hadn't actually switched back. The two, once back in Ino's apartment, had continued working on the Mind-Body Switch Jutsu until after midnight.
She'd been right; Ino had noticed a couple of times the chakra of an ANBU watching her.
Ino yawned and stretched. "What times is it?"
"Four A.M."
"FIVE!" Ino shouted and sat up in bed.
"I said 'four', Ino . . ."
"FOUR!"
"The quicker and earlier we get out of Konoha, the easier it will be for both of us to get away unnoticed," Naruto explained and tossed a heavy backpack onto Ino's stomach. "I've already packed for you, go shower and get dressed. We're leaving in 30 minutes."
Ino groaned and slumped back into the soft sheets of his bed. He realized then, that he might have bitten off more than he could chew with this mission.
Naruto and Ino raced through the treetops, their feet barely touching branches before leaping away. They were hurrying as fast they could toward the Northern seas and had been running the entire day since their speedy departure from Konoha. It was nearly three in the afternoon.
"How much further would you say?" Ino shouted as he dove over a crooked tree branch. Atsuta was strapped to his back, bouncing with every jump he made.
"Maybe three more hours!" Naruto called back. "We've made good time!"
"I can't believe we just up and ran away from Konoha like we did!" Ino exclaimed. "People will wonder where I am!"
"I told your parents that you had a A-Rank mission and would be gone for a week!" Naruto replied and used a weak tree limb to swing. She landed gracefully on another branch before jumping away. "Highly confidential mission!"
"You LIED to my parents?" Ino screamed and stopped abruptly.
Naruto halted as well and turned to Ino, arms crossed over her chest. "You LIED to the Hokage?" she mock exclaimed.
"That's different!" Ino jumped over to the branch Naruto was standing on. "My parents are my parents! They'll kill me!"
"And the Hokage won't?" Naruto retorted and shook her head, long blonde hair swishing. "We'd already been lying to your parents anyway; this is just one more
on top of the rest. It's better that you have some kind of alibi instead of just disappearing, right?"
"Well, yeah, but . . . after a couple days, someone's going to figure out that I'm not actually on a A-Rank mission," Ino replied.
"Well then, I guess we should stop standing around and get moving if we only have a couple of days head start," Naruto said and jumped away. "Let's GO!"
Ino palmed his forehead, suddenly regretting ever agreeing to listen to Naruto's plans and worst of all follow them. He considered turning around and going back, but figured it was too late. He'd made his bed, might as well sleep in it. "This isn't going to end well," he muttered and followed after his true body.
Almost three hours later, they arrived at the outskirts of a city by the Northern shores known as Hokugan. The docks and ship, which would take them to Spring Country, were on the other side of the city. It wasn't a large city by an means, smaller than Konoha and most Fire Nation cities, but it was one of the bigger ports in the Northern countries. Plenty of trading ships passed by the docks, particularly between the countries of Earth and Lightning. It wouldn't be safe for two ninja from Leaf Country to try and simply make their way through.
Naruto stooped and lowered her pack to the ground. Unzipping it, she quickly rifled through its contents before pulling out two folded cloaks. She tossed one to Ino, who caught it easily. "Put it on and henge."
Ino nodded and quickly threw the cloak over his shoulders. He closed his eyes and henged away the whiskers on his face, turning his hair and eyes a dark brown. His
Konoha headband vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Not bad," Naruto commented and slid her cloak on. In a puff of smoke, her entire body changed. She shrunk several inches, her hair turned a vibrant red, eyes an emerald green. Her breasts grew a little bigger and ass slightly rounder. "But THIS is a henge."
Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Ino picked up Naruto's pack and heaved it to the newly made redhead. "Try not to get distracted by your new breasts."
Naruto grunted as she caught the pack, and zipped it closed again before sliding it over her shoulders underneath her cloak. "Don't be jealous, Ino. You know I'll only
ever be distracted by yours . . . and Sakura's. And sometimes Kurenai's."
Ino's hand stopped inches away from Naruto's face. "When we're back in our normal bodies . . . I swear . . ."
Naruto smiled cheekily. "Alright, we move quickly and straight for the docks. No distractions. This city is ripe with Cloud and Frost ninja and the last thing we want to do is piss any of them off," she explained. Things might have been a little better between the larger countries, but the fact that they separated after the war had put tensions back to their usual high state. Akatsuki and Madara might be dead, but new Kage's were stepping up, or insurgents rebelling.
Ino nodded in agreement. He understood the risks. Two Leaf ninja caught sneaking through wouldn't be taken kindly, instead be taken as something of a suspicious nature.
The two quickly dashed down the hillside and toward the city limits.
"And occasionally Hinata's."
The city was busier than both of them expected, especially for almost six at night. People bustled down every street, most of which were unpaved, heading home or out to eat. The docks were in the process of shutting down for the night, so a good number of fishermen were traveling in packs, their gear in hand. Each and every one of them reeked of fish and the sea.
Naruto yawned, squeezing between a couple of pedestrians. They were hurriedly making their way through the city to the ports, where their ship hopefully waited.
"You're tired?" Ino asked, dodging around someone himself.
"Hmm . . . yeah, I don't know how you sleep with these things," Naruto replied and yawned again. "I keep rolling over onto them, and it woke me up every time."
Ino sighed and shook his head. "You really are pathetic as a girl," he muttered. "When we get on the boat, we're resuming the training."
"Of course," Naruto stated. "You think I want to stay in your body any longer than I already have?" she whispered.
"Yeah, well I can't wait to get rid of your penis," Ino shot back quietly.
"Why're you always threatening my penis? Can't you threaten something else?"
"How about your balls?" Ino suggested.
"You don't see me threatening to cut off your boobs, do you?" Naruto countered.
"That's because you like them too much."
Naruto nodded sagely. "That is true . . . it would be a crime to cut up your breasts," she said and looked down at her henged cleavage in admiration.
"Hello there."
Naruto and Ino ignored the speaker, moving steadily in the direction of the docks.
"I said, 'Hello'," the man repeated, stepping in front of Naruto.
Naruto stopped and looked at the man, peeved. "What?"
"What's a perdy little lady like yerrself doin' wanderin' these parts 'lone?" he asked and grinned, showing dirty yellow teeth.
"I'm not alone, jackass," Naruto retorted. "I'm with this idiot, she added and jerked her thumb at Ino.
"What idiot?" the man sneered.
Naruto spun around, Ino suddenly nowhere to be found. "What!"
The man grabbed Naruto's arm suddenly and attempted to drag her off her feet.
Naruto leaned back, pulling the man off balance instead. Her hand snapped to his throat, clenching it tightly, cutting off all the air. "Where is he?" she snapped.
"I ain't tellin' you nothin'," the man gargled.
Naruto squeezed tighter and lifted the man off the ground, much to his surprise. "Where is he?"
The man weakly lifted a hand and pointed in the direction his friends had apparently taken Naruto's body.
"Good boy," Naruto replied and dropped the man abruptly. He clutched at his throat, gasping for air.
"Bitch!" he exclaimed before Naruto's foot slammed into his face, knocking him out cold.
Without warning, a hand covered Naruto's eyes and she found herself falling backwards. "What's going on?"
"Who are you?" The hand released her face, freeing her vision.
Naruto spun around, coming face to face with a tall man. He had dark hair, a scar running across his chin, and was dressed in standard ninja garb. A Cloud headband
was tied around his right forearm. They were on the roof of a building along the street.
"Who I am doesn't matter. My friend's been kidnapped," Naruto explained sharply.
"If he has any skill like you do, he should be just fine," the Cloud ninja replied. "They're nothing but common street thugs who grabbed your friend," he explained. "Now, who are you?"
"What do you care?" Naruto asked, eyes narrowing.
"Because I don't recognize you and you're clearly a ninja," the Cloud ninja replied. "From what village do you hail?"
"We're outcasts from Crescent Moon," Ino stated as he walked up to the ninja from behind. "What's left of it."
The Hidden Village of Crescent Moon, a little known and very small village, had been wiped out the previous year by Earth Country. Crescent Moon had attempted to claim a part of Earth Country's territory through an underhanded means and the Hidden Rock Village made an immediate response. No other country interfered in the offsetting war, even as Crescent Moon was completely wiped off the map and Earth Country took their land as their own. A man crushing an ant beneath his thumb.
"You're alright?" Naruto asked, looking her body up and down for any damage.
"Perfectly fine," Ino replied. "Two guys grabbed me from behind. Surprised me for a moment, but they were complete weaklings."
"Where are you Moon ninja headed?"
"The docks, we have a ship to catch," Naruto explained and stepped toward the edge of the roof. She looked down over the street. "We can't be late."
"Where are you headed?"
"Far away," Ino said and walked to Naruto. "Don't worry about us. We'll be out of your hair shortly."
"You Moon ninja were foolish to attack Earth Country . . ." the Cloud ninja stated. "Though it's too bad you failed."
Naruto looked over her shoulder at the Cloud ninja. "It was dumb of us to try," she lied, though it was still her honest opinion.
"My name is Sakuma."
"Good for you," Naruto replied and leapt from the roof, followed closely by Ino.
Sakuma remained and crossed his arms over his chest. "I have a feeling this won't be the last time we meet," he whispered to himself and grinned.
"The sooner we're on that boat and away from this city, the better," Naruto muttered. "That Cloud ninja was far stronger than he appeared. That was good thinking, telling him we were from Crescent Moon."
"I figured Cloud would be sympathetic with Moon since they hate Earth Country so much."
"So much for not attracting any attention," Naruto said.
"That's what you get for transforming into such a big breasted woman," Ino replied.
"Yeah, I suppose I should've just kept your normal body. That would've attracted no attention since you're so ugly," Naruto retorted and made a sloppy face at Ino.
"You're going to regret that one, Uzumaki . . ." Ino growled as they stepped onto the dock that lead to their ship. It wasn't large, but big enough to fit at least 15. It bumped against the pier it was tied to. "Not today... but soon."
Naruto grinned and approached the man tending to the boats deck. "Hello?"
The man turned and looked down at the small redhead. "Well hello there! May I help you, ma'am?"
"You're the ship heading to Spring Country, right?" Naruto asked.
"No, ma'am, Spring Country ships don't come 'round Hokugan ports," the man replied and grin, showing a couple of missing teeth.
Naruto smiled in return. "Sounds like this is our boat then."
"What?" Ino asked, looking utterly bewildered.
"This is our boat," Naruto repeated and gave Ino a very subtle wink.
"I'm confused though," the man stated. "I was told there'd only be one of you."
"Change of plans," Ino replied, and jumped onto ship's deck in a single bound.
Naruto shook her head and walked up the ramp that had been obviously laid out for them. She nodded at the man and looked off in the direction of the sea that separated them and Spring Country. A curious chilled wind swept through the air and she narrowed her eyes from the cold.
Ino stepped up behind her. "There's no turning back now."
"Nope," Naruto exhaled. Something didn't feel right and that didn't include the fact that she was in a woman's body. "No turning back now."
"WE SET SAIL!" the man who had greeted them exclaimed and suddenly the ship deck was flooded with sailors, each performing a different task in order to get them on their way.
He stepped up to Naruto and Ino. "I'm Cap'ain Yasaku. Welcome aboard, Uzumaki-san," he said and nodded at Ino then looked at Naruto. "But who might you be?"
"I'm Ino. Ino Yamanaka," she replied confidently.
"It's a 'onor ta meet you both. Queen Yukie 'as always spoken very 'ighly of you, Uzumaki-san," the Captain said. "She'll be very 'appy ta see you." He frowned at Ino's
silence.
Naruto crammed her elbow into Ino's side.
"Eh? Oh! Oh, yes. I'm looking forward to seeing her as well!" he exclaimed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
Naruto frowned. She was having a hard time not blurting out that she was Naruto and that she was the one looking forward to seeing Yukie. Ino had never actually met Yukie.
Naruto grabbed Ino's hand. "Come on. Let's go get settled in our rooms," she ordered and forcefully dragged Ino away.
"Uh . . ." Ino managed.
Naruto stopped at the doorway leading to the inside of the ship. "You have a point." The diminutive redhead spun around, giving the Captain a stern look. "Where's our room?"
Captain Yasaku grinned. "Will you two be sharing a room then?"
"It would make things easier, yes," Naruto stated and nodded.
Yasaku grinned wider, even more gaps in his teeth showing than before. "Of course. I'll 'ave one of my crew show you ta yer room," he replied. "We'll get on our way immediately."
Ino sat down on the creaky bed and sighed. The room was spacious enough, but consisted solely of a double bed, a small desk, an old wooden chair, and small dresser. It was hardly a fancy arrangement.
"Well, these are lovely accommodations. Not only that, but now the Captain thinks we're having sex. First Shikamaru, now the Captain. Who's next?"
"Who cares?" Naruto replied as she dropped her pack in the corner.
"I do!" Ino snapped. "I'd prefer it if people didn't think we were having sex, Naruto!"
"It's only one Captain! It's not like it's going to be spread all over Konoha or something. Shikamaru said he wouldn't tell."
"That's not the point!"
"The point is that we share a room so we can work on getting back to our normal bodies!" Naruto shot back.
"We didn't have to share the same room . . ." Ino muttered. "You're sleeping on the floor."
"You're gonna make your own delicate, fragile, body sleep on the floor?" Naruto remarked, with mock shock. "First the couch, now the floor. I hope your body doesn't get a bad back because of it."
"You're such a bastard, Naruto," Ino fumed. Naruto had already used that excuse before, and he hadn't given into it then.
Grinning, Naruto removed her henge, her appearance returning to that of Ino Yamanaka. "And you're not as ugly as I said," she replied and posed provocatively.
Ino transformed back to Naruto's real body to hide the slight blush on his cheeks. "Bastard," he mumbled.
"All right," Naruto announced. "Let's get back to training."
Ino nodded, blush completely gone. It was time to get back to work. "Right, let's go over the hand signals."
Sakuma looked down at the ship as it cast off and headed North. He stood upon the roof of a nearby warehouse, hands shoved deep in his pockets. "Leaf ninja . . . what business do you have to the North?" he muttered to himself. He wasn't surprised when he was able to see his breath. The air around him was suddenly growing cold.
"Why didn't you kill them?"
"I was going to kill the girl before the guy showed up," Sakuma replied. "There was something about him . . . He was stronger than he appeared. Together they may have been able to take me."
"They're heading to Spring Country."
"I guess you'll be following them there," Sakuma stated without looking at the speaker. His breath remained visible in the biting cold air. "Though I'm surprised you're not already there."
"What makes you think I'm not?" the chilling voice whispered and suddenly the temperature began to warm.
Sakuma smiled to himself as the ship carrying the two Konoha ninja sailed for the horizon.
Next Time: Chapter 5 Spring Country's Reception
Naruto and Ino are received by the soon Queen of Spring Country, and Naruto is amazed at what she finds has occurred since last she was there.
A/N: So, I'm not a big fan of this chapter. Didn't feel it was up to par with previous ones and really just wanted to get it out of the way so I could get the story moving along. The chapter moves really fast, which for me, is very uncommon. I tend to have slow paces to my stories. It's shorter than previous ones as well by about 10 pages. I suppose I should apologize for the reaaaaally long wait . . . so, sorry about that. This has been done for a long time, I just didn't get around to reading it over to typos and such.
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.
Since right now in the manga (spoilers) there's the giant war going on, I've added a little bit about that and a little info about the aftermath, the villages splitting apart again.
(1) Everyone should know by now that Naruto is in fact the 4th Hokage's son. If you don't . . . I don't even know how that's not possible, but I'm sorry for spoiling it for you.